Chapter Five: Melshaef and the Lost Mother

[Wolf Rawrrr]

After making the most difficult choice of the day, Wolf returns to stand before Luna with one hand behind his back. Gone is the confident and playful ranger from earlier. Now the young man's look is marred by uncertainty and hesitation. He clears his throat nervously before speaking to the sorceress.


"Luna. I... T-there you are. I just got back from a walk outside with um... With..."


Gods, what is her name?


"Bria!" he bursts out, then turns the volume back down. "A-and Powerpaw. We were walking. Outside."


You goddamn idiot. What did you just say? Just do it already!


"Anyway... I happened upon these on the way, and thought you might, erm, like them."

Spoiler

Three best-looking red tulips that he could find.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Otiorin scooped up the severed Hydra head and humped it onto his shoulder. It's cooling flesh sent a shudder through him where it touched his skin, but he bore it manfully. It was his prize and he would present it to Gerran when next they met. Coincidentally, the Half-Elf intended to make that their final meeting too. Otiorin had never hated anyone before, he usually passed off any ill-feeling against him like water off a duck's back. But Gerran was different. The fire that burned in his belly whenever he pictured the Painless leader's face was unlike anything he'd ever felt. He wanted to.... to grind his fist into Gerran's face slowly and strongly, distorting his features into an unrecognisable mess. He wanted to slice bits off of the Lovitar worshipper and leave them in a heap on a spoil pit. He wanted to remove all semblance of the man from the world, to expunge his very presence from the face and mind of the cosmos so that even his victims would no more be tormented by him. But he was but a Half-Elf, and not a particularly good example at that. As he stood by the grand wagon with his prize he wondered what am I? A burglar? Not too many windows guarding treasure rooms in the wilderness. A warrior? Are you kidding? You can barely stand when danger confronts you! A confidence trickster? Most of the time your conscience gets in the way and you back out of a scam. Then what? You're a good guy. A well-meaning wanderer being blown around the world doing what good you can where you can.


Then Bria rushed over, planted a flower in his hands, a kiss on his cheek and an ache in his heart. When am I going to pluck up the courage to tell her?

 

[Kaerri]

"Hum, how about leaving my wagon here with me, you could hitch up the other horses and take the Ward Wagon on faster?" ponders. "With you guys moving around so much there isn't much I can do about The Forgewagon anyway, not to mention I need to make some armor and weapons for Miss 'Paw."

Bren shakes his head. "I'm afraid we'll continue to be moving about rather a lot, at least until we reach Highwind and relative safety. Which brings me to your question - I don't think it would be a good idea to leave you behind. We aren't likely to return this way for a while, possibly weeks or even months, and it wouldn't be safe to leave you here in the middle of the road. No need to worry, though, I don't think an extra pair would give us that much extra speed. I'm guessing there's some sort of magic involved in that big wagon to get everything inside to fit, quite aside from allowing even four horses such as these to pull it." He pats the shoulder of the nearest horse and turns in time to see the others gifting their dear ones with flowers. He sighs but smiles; happy to see the joy in his teammates, but missing his own dear wife. "Bronze, would you help me skin some of the hide off this pyrohydra, while the others are occupied? I have a feeling it'll come in useful down the road. You yourself might want to use it in crafting - perhaps it could be used to make fire-resistant armor or some other sort of gear. We have a few minutes while everyone gets settled; might as well spend it profitably." Suiting action to words, he moves to the cooling corpse and sets his knife carefully to its scaly hide.

 

[Sherwood]

Luna's eyes light up as Wolf presents her with the flowers. "Oh, my. Their beautiful! Thank you, Wolf." She gently takes the flowers and holds them up to her nose to get a good sniff of their fragrance, then the fire mage stretches up to plant a kiss on the lips of the big man, sliding into his arms with a happy sigh.

 

[killfire]

"There is always the Spiffy Wagon, there should be nice place to wash there, and clean clothes, but I have got to make you some kind of armor."


Goes to help skin the critter, taking two super sharp knives with him. And a whetstone, just in case. "Should we consider burning what's left of the corpse, or would the forest get angry at us? I don't think it would be polite to leave something like this to rot out in the open."


"Oh Miss 'Paw, I'll need to take measurements so I can make you some kind of armor, and a decent set of weapons."

 

[Captain Hesperus]

"Leave it to rot. The corpse will give back to the forest. Scavengers will feast, plants will thrive and in time it's bones will replenish the earth.", Otiorin said quietly, "and it's safer than leaving afire unattended. I don't fancy explaining that to Skaagenrackner or one of his friends."

 

[Sherwood]

Luna looks up at this, and adds, "Besides, fire may not affect it at all; it was fireproof when alive, after all." She slips her arm around Wolf's waist and snuggles in close, not caring who sees her. "Mamapaw, I have many questions for you, but they can wait until you are cleaned up and rested. Let us go inside the Wagon and let you do so, and in the morning, we can talk." She gives the large cat-woman a smile and motions for her to come inside.

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

A wave of relief washes over Wolf and with a smile he contently leads Luna inside the Adventurer's Wagon.

 

[Kaerri]

Bren nods in agreement with Otiorin. "Aye, it's not blocking the road*, so it's well enough where it is. When we've gathered what we can off it, let's get a move on. I'd like to be a good distance away before we stop for the night."

Spoiler

*It's not, is it?

 

[Wolf Rawrrr]

lets pretend dis never happened k?

 

[Purr]

Spoiler

It's partially blocking, meaning future caravans and the like can go around it.


Flowers distributed to worthy hearts, and blades cut to make (so far) 1 large-sized armor set and 2 items of clothing, the Wanderers prepare to head off into the night. Bria helps Stewart and the others get ready. When Stewart says, "What is happening? And what is that thing?" The Meadowsweets jump up and down when they also spot the carved and blasted Craven corpse some of the Wanderers are cutting into. Bria explains in quick detail.


Unbelieveable! Vardadraug stares. Someone had the power to set the Craven loose...


Killfire sez,

"Oh Miss 'Paw, I'll need to take measurements so I can make you some kind of armor, and a decent set of weapons."

"Armor? For me? How thoughtful of you!" Again, she looks ashamedly down at the horrid rags that cover her and smiles so very happily at Bronze.


Sherwood sez,

"Mamapaw, I have many questions for you, but they can wait until you are cleaned up and rested. Let us go inside the Wagon and let you do so, and in the morning, we can talk." She gives the large cat-woman a smile and motions for her to come inside.

"And I you, Miss Luna Kaftan of the human community."


Bria appears to be thinking out loud when she says, "We really need to have a..." but she trails off as another thought strikes her mid-sentence.


Mamapaw sighs and pauses out of exhaustion. "Forgive me. I am so very tired, hungry, still thirsty, and confused. While I cannot wait to take advantage of the offers of comfort, would someone please tell me where we are going in such a desperate hurry and why?""

 

[killfire]

"Powerpaw, can you give us a hand skinning this critter? Need to get as much as we can so I can make stuff. And yer Mom needs some decent clothes and armor." Continues to skin with amazing skill.

 

[Purr]

Powerpaw's ears and whiskers perk up at Bronze's suggestion. "Ooooh! Dat's a good ideas, Bronze-face!" He draws out his magical longsword, pausing only long enough to glance at Bren, before using it to carve pieces of hide out of the Craven's still-uncomfortably-hot-in-places hide. At first, he hacks like he is attacking the creature, but then Kitty-sense dawns on him and little by little, he tries to emulate Bronze's skinning techniques for the best results. "Boy, I can't waits ta see what we makes outta dis! Moar!"

Spoiler

After about 10 careful minutes, between Bren, Bronze, and Powerpaw, the Wanderers now have a total amount of Pyrohydra hide to create 1 large-sized suit or hide or leather armor (remember that large-sized creatures take four times the amount of resources to build for than medium-sized creatures), and enough for 16 other uses.


These 16 units of material (pyrohydra hide) can be broken down in the following ways:


1. Another large-sized set of armor or barding for a horse.


2. 4 sets of leather or hide-like armor.


3. 8 wondrous magical items.


4. Or some mix of of options 2 and 3.


You think there are a maximum of roughly 64 more units of material still available on the Craven corpse, depending on who directs the cutting.


With that, the Wanderers quickly retire into the Adventurers' Wagon where Bria has just finished explaining to Stewart, the Meadowsweets, Sparkle, and Vardadraug all that is going on. Bria then rushes outside again. "Be right back! I want to check on Star and his guests!"


Meanwhile, most of you find yourselves placing goodies in the pool area, off in the one corner that has nothing in it. The pool looks more than inviting given what all of you have just gone through. Powerpaw guides his mother inside and she gasps at the sheer size of the room; it is an unexpected and grand luxury to say the least.


By the time Powerpaw returns from the kitchen with a huge mug of milk and assorted pies, vegetables, and steak (the same you had for dinner), Mamapaw is looking embarrassed and shy in her ugly, tattered rags. Once Powerpaw returns, she brightens, knowing his plates of food and napkins are meant for her. "Here, Mom! Moar for you!" Quickly and eagerly, she feeds her malnourished, abused body, careful only not to eat too quickly. She is not afraid to eat only with her paws and there is much appreciation in every bite.


"Wanderers," she asks meekly, her large catty eyes looking at you from over the large mug of milk, "we seem to be in a hurry to go, but where are we going? And for what purpose? Are we trying to escape the Painless? Was not killing that Craven-creature enough?"

 

[Kaerri]

Bren grins at Powerpaw and nods. "More hands - or paws - mean we can get more done in the time we have." At the end of the 10 minutes he'd alloted, he looks over the pile of hide with an approving expression. "Well done, friends; this is a goodly amount and should serve us well. Let's load it into the wagon now - beside the pool will do until Stewart shows us a better place."


After loading up and washing off, he settles in the pool area with the rest. Turning to hear Mamapaw's question, he replies, "We are making for Melshaef's Tree, the next checkpoint on the Road of Kings (which is the road we're on) between Summerset to the south and Highwind to the north. It is a couple days' journey on horseback. The full trip, Summerset to Highwind, takes about two weeks by horse. We are in a hurry at present not to escape the Painless, but to warn their next presumable target - Melshaef himself, by what we've heard. As Otiorin said outside, the Painless originally intended to send the Craven after him. Our killing it will force a change in their plans, but we can't count on them abandoning the attack entirely. They seem to be on foot, and we've wagons and good horses, so we should arrive well before them, but all the same we shouldn't waste any time in getting there."

 

[Purr]

(Copied from the last page of Chapter Five...)


Mamapaw listens to Bren's every word with a mixture of worry and hope. When he is finished, she lifts a claw to reply. "Oh! That won't be necessary... you see... there is something important I never told Gerran or the Painless..."


Just then, the front door to the Adventurers' Guild swings wide and Bria bursts in through the purple clouds in the doorway along with the Daughters of Summertime. The trio of beautiful light-trailing faeries zip and swirl through the air. Bria's hair is slightly damp as is her courtesan's outfit. "The rain is here! It's soooo pretty in the moonlight, but there is a stormcloud coming right behind it. So be ready!"





But that is no surprise, as Highwind is legendary for its temperamental weather. No, the surprise comes when the Daughters of Summertime shake the raindroplets off of their wings and hair and spot Mamapaw.

Spoiler

The Daughters of Summertime shriek and cry happily, bee-lining it straight to Mamapaw, shouting, "MELSHAAAEFF!"


Mamapaw smiles excitedly and sets her food down and opens her arms, hugging each one ofthem. "Ohhhh! Daughters of Summertime! What happened to you?! I was so worried!"


The woodland faeries snuggle, kiss, and play in a familiar fashion on and about Mamapaw's feline face and shoulders. "Melshaef, Melshaef!" "We missed you so much!" "We flew and flew to deliver your message to Skaagenracker!" "We sure did! But an evil, nasty wizard captured us and trapped us in a globe!" "But Otiorin of the half-elves and the Wanderers freed us!" "Yeah, and he taught us an important lesson about judging people, too!"


Mamapaw turns to Otiorin and bows to him. Then she bows to all of you. "Daughters," Melshaef/Mamapaw/Sabrefang stands with a straight back filled with dignity as if reassuming an old role, "who among the Wanderers are not known to you?"


"Oh! Bright Fire!" One daughter points straight at Luna. "And your son!" "Yes, the others are known to us - some for a long time!"


Melshaef/Mamapaw/Sabrefang turns to Luna and Powerpaw. She gracefully waves her paw through the air and states, "You have saved me from the clutches of Loviatar and her Painless from a fate worse than death. For this, I pronounce you Forest-friends!"


Bria stands next to Otoirin, waving her hands in complete surprise. "You are Melshaef?! All this time, the Painless had Melshaef in their cage and they didn't know it?"






Melshaef nods. 'Indeed, little kitten! Druidesses must keep their secrets close after all! After Gerran and his Painless destroyed my tree, I sent the Daughters of Summertime to warn Skaagenrackner. When Skaagenrackner failed to contact me, I followed the Daughters of Summertime and that is when Gerran and his minions caught me. Of course, they did not know me for who I was, for I have made it a matter of intrigue by telling people from all over that I am actually this guise or that." She grins, relieved. "And now I am glad I did."


Powerpaw gawks. "Mom?! You iz a refugee-savin' druid now?"


She beams in pride. "I had to have something with the months I scoured Sharseya looking for you!"


"Oh, that's it! I have had it!" Bria clenches her little fists and stomps her foot down. "I say we go out there and gather the rest of the Craven's hide or not, and get moving before the Painless come back and the full storm gets here, and once we are on our way... every single one of us Wanderers is going to sit down right here! For we are long overdue for a Roundabout!"


(Storyteller here: This concludes Chapter Five: Melshaef and the Lost Mother (same person). We now move onto Chapter Six: Roundabout!)


(Storyteller here: And I cannot get the "double-spoiler" effect to leave even when I rewrite that entire section of the post. Oh well! EDIT: Kaerri fixed it! Thanks, Kaerri! =) EDIT #2: It came back again. Oh well, x2. =) )