#hartwinde

[elletromil]

elle’s self rec list

So I did one of those about two years ago and I decided why not do another one! Some fics from the old one will probably be repeated here, but who cares, it’s my list, I get to make the rules :D

There's Something About Us - T, Hartwin, Merlin/Roxy, Percilot, AU,  Words: 49,369

Roxy had her eyes closed, twirling her drum sticks expertly but unnecessarily between beats, unbothered by the strands of brown hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail. Merlin had shuffled closer to her drumset, as he often did, his feet keeping her rhythm, eyes closed as if in concentration. Percival was half hunched over his keyboard, looking at the crowd without seeing it, his voice having taken that far-away edge that only added to the ethereal of their song.

Without shame, he started swaying to their music, letting it wash over everything else so that only their harmony stayed.

In which Eggsy, Roxy, Merlin and Percival are a famous alien music band, Harry is a hero of the Galactic Patrol and Valentine and Gazelle are evil humans.

This one is my longest fic to date and quite frankly, I am insanely proud of it. It’s heavily based on the Interstella 5555 movie Daft Punk did for their Discovery album, but you don’t need to be familiar with it to read this. It took me four years to finish this and probably closer to five years to write it all since I started writing a while before I started posted it. But oh man, am I proud of this story.

Of Flowers, Thunderstorm and Tranquility - M, Hartwin, AU,  Words: 9,702

The fresh snow crinkles satisfyingly under his feet as Harry slowly makes his rounds of his part of the Forest. He is seconds away from humming when a whimpering sound from a bush nearby gives him pause.

Harry carefully makes his way towards the sound, on his guard. He gasps in surprise when he parts the foliage. He doesn’t know what he expected, but one thing is certain, it wasn’t the unconscious Summer Child curled up around himself.

This one is quite probably the one I will forever think as my masterpiece. The idea pounced on me and wouldn’t let me go until I had written it all. It is also on of the very few stories I ever wrote that goes higher than a T rating.

of flowers and fireflies - cowritten by @insanereddragon - M, Merwin, AU,  Words: 43,882

“You're trying to tell me that you're my dog?”

“Well, yes. Though I’d rather you say familiar if you don’t mind.”

“That’s… That’s impossible. The spell didn’t work.”

--

Eggsy is a familiar. For many human lifetimes, familiars live waiting for a call from one of the populations magic users. During their time of waiting, they seek out magical sanctuaries for their kind. Eggsy and Lee are on their way to one such place when tragedy strikes, and only Eggsy makes it to his new home at the Hart estate sanctuary.

Merlin is a magic user. After the death of his family, Merlin is taken in by the Hart family on their estate. It’s there, growing up beside Harry, that he first learns of his magical abilities and struggles with growing up without the support of a magical family.

Even though their paths cross while growing up on the estate, it isn’t until many years later when Merlin performs a summoning for a familiar that they connect. A friendship grows to something more while the two learn to navigate their newly formed bond.

So there are two reasons why I absolutely love this story/verse. The first one is that I got to write it with Red. Back then when we decided that ‘hey, we only need 10k for a mini bang, let’s do this, 5k each will be a walk in the park’ we were just starting our friendship. Fastforward a few years later and I can’t envision my life with Red in it. Also we were very dumb and both have no chill because the easy 10k mini-bang we thought this story would be ended up being  a 43k proper big bang

Only love can hurt like this - T, Eggsy/Tilde, Hartwin, Eggsy/Harry/Tilde,  Words: 8,001

He’s not stupid, his life isn’t a fairy tale, he’s not going to marry the princess now that he’s saved the world. Heck, if his life was a fairy tale, he would rather be the princess marrying the Knight.

Harry is dead, Eggsy has picked up his mantle as a spy and Tilde doing her job as a princess and helping to lead her country in the trying times after V-Day. But even busy as they are, Tilde and Eggsy both kept in contact and what develops between them is more than simple friendship.

All in all, life isn't that bad.

Except Harry isn't as dead as they all thought he was.

I started writing this before the sequel was out and my only regret is that the movie treated Tilde’s character do terribly. There are so many different ways they could have handled it so that Tilde would still end up being Eggsy’s motivation for really wanting the antidote and well... They really didn’t go that way, did they? Anyone, concerning Tilde, I am mostly in fanon-land where it concerns her or whatever @solrosan ​ comes up with because Rosa is an amazing writer and one of the very few I will accept angst from. But I digress. Consider this as a fix-it that instead of ignoring Tilde completely, goes the route I prefer when I see love triangle and transforms the situation into a healthy triad. Because I can.

I Get a Little Bit… - G, Merlahad, Ghenghis Khan video AU, Words: 6,062

Merlin is putting his two children to bed when his phone starts ringing with a too familiar alert. He curses under his breath, thankful that Roxy is already fast asleep and won’t reprimand him on his language.

Or the Genghis Khan Merlahad au everyone wanted but nobody was writing.

The summary is pretty self-explanatory here I think.

Nous n’avons rien à faire, rien que d’être heureux  - T, Merlahad, Merhartwin, AU,  Words: 5,982

“Harry, Merlin, I present you the first gift of my courtship. It is my intent, if you accept, to show you that I can not only provide for you a home and protection, but cherish you.”

Harry and Merlin have been in a relationship for decades. Many a siren have proposed them over the years, but Eggsy is the first one they're willing to give a chance.

And Eggsy isn't about to let it go to waste.

So I was insanely lucky during the last reverse-bang and managed to lay claim on a couple of @paxdracona ​ artwork (I love Pax and all of her art too, it’s so inspiring and wonderful and gorgeous and yeah, go stare at it you won’t regret it). This story is what I came up with for it and I must say I am quite proud of it. Who doesn’t love a good courting fic after all?

Don’t be scared of what you don’t already know - G, Hartwin, AU,  Words: 14,601

“I wouldn’t mind the company for one more day.” Harry smiles sheepishly and Eggsy spies a glimmer of something raw in his warm brown eye.

It’s all he needed to be convinced. It’s not really selfish if he suspects Harry is just lonely as he is, right?

“Okay, yeah. I can totally wait another day.”

After he's been chased out of his commune by his dick stepfather, a surprisingly kind dragon invites Eggsy to stay at his place for the night. Or well, it's supposed to be just for one night, but Harry doesn't seem to mind when Eggsy's stay keeps getting longer and longer.

That’s one of the other reverse-bang I wrote and the other artwork I got to claim from @paxdracona​ which made me insanely happy at the time because well, I had already written a few ficlets about her dragon!Harry and magpie!Eggsy and I really wanted to write a longer one.

Room for Three (Not Only You and Me) - G, Merhartwin, Words: 6,797

The first time it happens Merlin honestly doesn’t know.

Though, in Merlin’s defense there is nothing indicating that this is any different than usual.

Wherein Merlin date-crashes Harry and Eggsy’s dates without realising it at first. Except, when Merlin tries to give them some space, they don’t seem to be happy about it.

Writing oblivious characters is always fun especially when you wouldn’t expect this character to be so clueless most of the time. Also, well this is the fic that made me meet Red so of course Imma forever recs this.

Stay - T, Hartwin,  Words: 2,765

They nearly walk by without seeing the other, the only reason they do in the end is because Eggsy has to suddenly sidestep a wandering child and would have tripped on his own feet if it wasn’t for the hand shooting out and righting him at the last moment.

He turns around to thank the stranger only to realise that a stranger the man is not, even if he’s barely recognizable from the last memory he has of him.

After Poppygeddon, Eggsy stayed a Kingsman agent but Harry decided it was time for him to retire. Which also meant going halfway across the world and cutting all ties with his previous life. They never thought they would meet again.

Of course they do.

I wrote this as a gift to @honey-bee-britt and while the series is still not completed, it can still be read as a stand-alone. I am so proud of this one fic too. It’s some of my best work I think.

If I only could make a deal with God -  T, Hartwin,  Words: 5,089

He's not even sure he wants to be a part of Kingsman anymore. The Knights might accept him now that he's saved the world from Valentine's madness, but there's only one position to fill. And he doesn't know how to feel about taking up Galahad’s mantle. Not sure how he feels about replacing Harry.

The night after Harry has been killed by Valentine and Eggsy has saved the world from the madman, a familiar fox appears to him and leads him to the Underworld.

If luck is on his side, Eggsy might just sway the God of Death into returning Harry's soul to the living.

Who wants a Hartwin retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice legend? Because this is what it is. Because this is me and of course I will write as many mythology au or fics with mythology references that I possibly can.

[allenvooreef]

‘In the town of Coldvale, a funeral feast is held to honor the late Lord Hartwind, who died under mysterious circumstances. He had been working on solidifying a trade route between Coldvale and the elves in the nearby swamp. Ara Kresh, swamp elf ranger, and Annori Sneezeweed, tiefling druid, arrive as part of the swamp elf delegation, along with their ambassador. The well known human bard Kevin Duckett is there to provide music for this sad occasion. Meanwhile, one of the servants isn’t quite like the others, as the human rogue Raiden blends into the background to pick up information on the murder.’

A throwback to the very first session of Anyway Murder! This is how the gang all met each other, plus the poor NPC called Danis Marsh they’ve been trying to befriend against his will since the first minute 😂

You can follow our D&D campaign through session summaries and lots of art over at @anywaymurder

[anywaymurder]

Betrayal

Chapter 41

Raiden squirms his way out of Ara’s grip and runs out the door, but is soon floored again. Annori wildshapes into a bear and restrains him, while Ara ties him up using rope. Members of the Syndicate rush out and draw weapons, but Kevin manages to convince them that this bear is part of his usual performance and they’ve got it all under control. They put him down on a chair and ask him what’s going on. Raiden exclaims he’s being framed, that the Copper Syndicate are making him look like someone he isn’t, and that he has no idea why. Annori asks him to answer one question: is Raiden his real name? The rogue goes quiet for a bit and then replies ‘no’. But he’s not willing to divulge his real name here, so they collectively come up with a plan to get him out of the Syndicate’s grasp. Ara goes to untie him, but finds that Raiden had already sneakily cut the ropes while they were talking. (A: you owe me a rope)

Ara asks Raiden to promise them he’ll meet up with the group again once he’s out. He does. Kevin looks at him pleadingly and asks again, causing Raiden to impatiently promise again. Ara suggests they make it look like a fight broke out where Raiden escaped, and asks who wants the first punch, prompting Annori to punch him in the face, hurting her hand more than anything. Raiden picks the lock on the door, Annori turns him invisible and turns into a mouse, running up his pant leg to sit on his shoulder. Kevin and Ara throw some furniture around to trash the room, and as L comes back inside, Raiden and Annori slip away invisibly. Kevin puts on a great performance, but Ara’s is lacking, so L quickly figures out something is up. They assure Kevin and Ara that they are all on the same side here, and that while they understand Raiden might not have been ready to talk about it yet, all they want is to have a conversation. They ask that if they do manage to ‘catch’ him, they try to convince him to come and talk. (A: ‘if you’d have had more empathy i wouldn’t have had to pretend to be beaten by a flimsy rogue’) Before they can head out, L grabs Kevin by the arm and tells him that he’s starting to understand why his mother left the Syndicate. Kevin cannot handle any more upsetting information right now and sort of collapses, leaving Ara to carry him outside. 

Meanwhile, an invisible Raiden and Annori make their way stealthily through town, all the way to Notsk’s office where they agreed to meet the others. Once they arrive, Raiden pulls out his lantern and quickly stuffs mouse!Annori inside, before she even realizes what’s happening. He sets it down on the ground, says ‘I’m so sorry, Annori’, and walks away, disappearing into the shadows.

When Ara and Kevin arrive, they find a loudly squealing mouse inside a lantern. Once freed and un-wildshaped, a very upset Annori explains what happened. She calls Raiden an idiot for leaving, because now he has to deal with the Syndicate alone. Ara cuts in and says that Raiden should be more worried about them, and what they’re gonna do to him once they hunt him down. Kevin resorts to sad, angry stomping.

Fueled by panic, Raiden puts as much distance between them as he can. He then makes a snap decision to head towards the castle prison to talk to Vezal. Realizing his permission to enter has probably expired by now, he uses magic to disguise himself as Lady Hartwind. The guards escort him down towards the cells, and Raiden realizes just in time that the cells in question have a strong anti-magic field around them and his disguise won’t hold up. He convinces the guards to let him enter alone. Vezal asks him who he is, only vaguely remembering him from before, but Raiden has no time for small-talk. He pulls out the tracings of the symbols found in the temple to Amoth and asks Vezal what they mean. When the mage is confused, he urges him to talk because he’s the only chance he has at ever getting out of here. Vezal studies the glyphs and says that the first part, the carved glyphs, are a ward to protect the leylines. The second part, the one painted in blood, was there to weaken the first. Channel power to the forgotten God, retrieve his lost shrines and relics so Justice can be once more

It strikes Vezal as odd that this was found in a temple to Amoth, since a deity like Amoth wouldn’t stand for the murder of Lord Hartwind and the others being committed in his name. Raiden bluntly asks who it could be about, then. Vezal frustratedly says that’s what he was trying to find out before he got arrested, when he traveled to Feirenwald’s library. 

The rest of the group decide they need a drink and some sleep, and head back to the Silver Cauldron Inn (A: this is why I don’t do friendship). The innkeep asks where their errand boy is, and Ara briskly says they’re gonna need a new one. Annori says he’s just running errands, and that she’ll wait for him outside. She climbs onto the roof and sits there, crying silently, holding on to the hope that Raiden will find his way back to them. Ara buys a bottle of fancy wine, walks up to Findire, and asks him if he would like to do something reckless. Findire invites him to his room. (this is where I badly drew an ‘eyes’ emoji in my notebook)

Raiden takes out his spellbook with the notes in the margins, and flips through to the pages that had notes about the shadowfel. Vezal explains that the shadowfel is a plane of darkness that forms a trinity with the material plane and the feywild. The shards that they found in the temple are wisps of shadow. If five of them are brought together, it’s possible to create a ‘shadowcrossing’, a portal to the shadowfel. He urges Raiden to be careful with these shards: exposing them to sunlight would destroy them. As Raiden leafs through the book once more to find other clues, Vezal notes that the writing in the margins resembles that of an old friend. Helena Tarrenwood. Raiden, without making eye contact, asks him what he knows of her. He says he knows she was imprisoned for a horrible act, one that he had thought her guilty of, before he himself was imprisoned for something similar. He mentions that Raiden looks like her somewhat. He does not respond to this, instead urging him to tell him everything he knows that might be of use in this investigation, because he is now his only chance to prove his innocence. (V: I thought you had companions last time? R: yeah I did, didn’t I?) Vezal tells him to trust his friends, because trying to shoulder this alone is what got him in prison. Raiden gets up to leave, knocking feverishly on the door until the guards open. He stumbles out of the room into them, dazing them just enough so they don’t see his face before he can cast his magic disguise again. They escort him outside, where he proclaims he just needs some air, and they leave him to it. And so he wanders off into the night, with heart pounding, thoughts racing and a bad conscience.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[lystacre]

Day 221. I’m finally trying to get some visual for the NPCs on the d&d campaign I’m running. Lady Hartwind recently became the ruler of Coldvale, after her father’s murder.

[anywaymurder]

Trapping a Bunny

Chapter 42

Dawn arrives, along with a sealed letter on Kevins pillow. He eagerly opens and reads it, to find it’s a message from his mother! 

My dearest Kevin,

I think I have a lead in our investigation, but I need your and your friend's help to get my hands on it. 

I know you're  planning on going to Anamdael. Please find me there. I'll explain everything.

Love

Mom.

Filled with excitement, the bard goes to find his companions. When it turns out neither of them is in their rooms, he starts to panic a little bit: did they all leave? The receptionist is able to inform him that Ara went upstairs with another patron last night, and on his request delivers a message to Findire’s door, received by his bodyguard (named Seirilipsys). 

Ara comes out of his meditation to the news that one of his companions needs him urgently, and when he learns it’s Kevin, quickly heads downstairs, leaving an apologetic message for Findire with Seirilipsys. (A: ‘please don’t make me sound pathetic)

Kevin is relieved to see Ara and excitedly shows him the letter, but the swamp elf responds that while he’s happy for him that his mom got in touch, he doesn’t see how they could continue the investigation without Raiden. Kevin proposes they find Raiden, then. (K: ‘Let’s get him to help!’ A: ‘Yes, to hell.’ K: ‘that’s almost what I said!’ A: ‘I’m a man of approximation.’) 

Meanwhile, Annori wakes up on the rooftop of the inn, sore and disappointed that Raiden never returned. She casts Locate Object on the ring he wears around his neck, walking through town to try and pick up its trail, but with no results. (N: ‘it can locate objects I’ve seen before, and, like, I’ve seen Raiden.’ R, out of character: ‘are you objectifying me, Sneezeweed?’) She returns to the common room of the inn to find Ara and Kevin standing there, who were just about to go find her. She expresses her disappointment and worry: what if something’s wrong with Raiden, or what if he was under some kind of spell? Ara counters that he thinks the man is just an asshole. But there’s one thing he doesn’t have: the shards. Annori and Kevin blink in quiet confusion, until Ara reminds them of the shards they found after battling the specter on ghost island, currently in his possession. The group collectively comes to the conclusion that they’re definitely gonna need Raiden if they want to solve this case. But they’ll have to do it quick: their boat to Anamdael is scheduled to leave that very evening. (N: ‘I think he’s just scared. Ever tried to catch a frightened bunny in the woods?’ A: ‘I would have gone for rat, but bunnies are rodents too so I guess it still works.’ N: ‘Actually, they’re not, it’s interesting because-’ K: ‘We don’t have time for this!!’)

They brainstorm a bit about how they might track him down, since Locate Object hadn’t worked. They consider asking the Copper Syndicate for help, but conclude that that might only alienate Raiden further. When Ara wonders aloud what Raiden would do, Kevin suggests he would maybe try to find more information on his own. Annori agrees, especially knowing his personal ties to the investigation now. (N: ‘What if all this time we thought he was solving this murder, but he’d been trying to solve his mother’s murder instead?’) Kevin points out that Raidens mother was allegedly a powerful magic user, and suggests there may be someone with magic in this town who knows her. Annori agrees that if those two murders were indeed so similar, Raiden might have gone to talk to Vezal in order to try to get information on his mother. 

She sketches a wanted poster of Raiden that looks well enough like him, except for the nose, which is terribly off. 

They go towards the keep and ask to speak to Vezal in the prison, but the guards announce that the investigation had officially been closed and so he wasn’t to receive any visitors. The only one allowed to see him was Lady Hartwind, who had apparently come by last night. She, however, is also unavailable and they get dismissed without answers. None of the people Annori shows the wanted poster to seem to have seen the rogue. 

Another lead cut short, the group thinks hard on what to do next. Annori reasons that there’s a high probability that Raiden will be on the same ship as them, since they’re pretty sure he’ll still want to go to Anamdael and there aren’t many other means of getting there. Kevin doubts whether Raiden would be brazen enough to take the same boat as them after making such a dramatic exit, but Annori notes that he could be in disguise. (A: ‘I could always cast Detect Poison And Disease and see if he shows up on the radar.’ N: ‘Look, Ara, your jokes are starting to get a little annoying.’)

Turning the conversation on Ara, Kevin asks him why on earth he wasn’t in his own room last night. Ara denies this and talks around it in his usual abstract manner, but Annori notices the tips of his ears turning slightly red. Ara then offers that he might have a way to talk with Lady Hartwind still, but he’d have to go back to the inn to check. When Kevin offers to accompany him, he absolutely insists on going alone. Kevin exclaims that he’d better not be running away like Raiden did. Ara reassures him that he won’t, but still won’t share what he’d be doing exactly. Kevin pleads ‘come on, no more secrets!’, but Ara insists that they’re wasting time discussing this. ‘I’ll see you at the docks before sundown, Raiden or no Raiden. We can’t let one asshole ruin our lives, right?’

Annori sets out to find some animals to gain more information on Raidens whereabouts. In the environment surrounding the keep she finds a raccoon, who is nameless but upon request gets a name from her: Steve. Steve nibbles some of Annori’s all-purpose granola bars and is eager to help. But when she produces the lantern Raiden used to trap her, the little creature can sadly no longer smell his scent underneath her own. 

Meanwhile, Ara returns to Findire’s room in the inn, where the bodyguard Seirilipsys lets him in. The two of them are packing up their things in preparation of the boat trip. Ara apologizes for leaving so suddenly, to which Findire drily responds ‘it’s alright, we’re not married yet’, causing Ara to get so flustered he quickly emphasizes that it was only a joke. Ara then asks him, in between a million polite disclaimers, if there’s a way he could arrange a meeting with Lady Hartwind for them. Findire is confused as to why; would she know where his missing friend had gone? (A: ‘… So okay, there was this murder-’) Ara fills him in on the important parts of the story as quickly as possible, to explain why talking to Lady Hartwind might be a good lead. Findire remarks that it all sounds quite convoluted (A, out of character: ‘Yes, there’s this thing called a Google Drive with summaries you could read up on.’), but he’ll give it a shot. He thinks it’s best if Ara doesn’t accompany him, though, which he assures him is nothing personal. (F: ‘When should I ask her?’ A: ‘How fast can you run? Super inappropriate question, forget that, so sorry.’) Ara is then tasked with overseeing the packing of the ambassador’s effects, with absolutely no use of lethal punishment in any circumstance. 

Kevin takes the familiar road back to the market square, where he finds the caravan of the potion merchants. Xadrynk greets him happily and says he had a great night with Riani talking about potions. He gathers his things, giving Kevin his seasickness cure, and bids the halflings farewell. Together they head to the docks.

In the meantime, Annori scoured the docks for cats, but to no avail. She sits and thinks for a while, then remembers the poster she made and decides to show it around to some more people. At last her hard work pays off! One merchant says he saw a fellow like that inquiring about quick means of transportation to Anamdael last night. He doesn’t know whether he found answers or not, but informs her that the boat she has tickets for is the only one leaving in that direction for at least two weeks, though there are also horse drawn carts that follow the road. Annori thanks him and gives him a silver piece before rushing back to the harbor.

They all meet again as dusk draws nearer. Annori tries Locate Object again, but the ring seems unfindable. As a last resort they think of finding Lilwen Lale, who seemed to really know how to get under Raidens skin, and gave him some kind of letter the last time they spoke. Might she know how to track him down? Just as they’re discussing this last-minute plan, passengers for the boat start to arrive, including two men in plate armor who seem intent on helping the crew load the cargo. Annori eyes them sharply, trying to determine whether one of them could be Raiden in disguise. They seem to know the crew, however, and both men are slightly taller than he is, as becomes clear when they approach to offer help with their bags. The one speaking to them is a human with a square build and short braided hair, and the other a half-orc with a wide, happy grin. As they’re escorted onto the boat (named the Pathfinder), the half-orc introduces himself cheerfully as Remington Fletcher, Fletch to his friends. He jovially points them each in the direction of their own private sleeping cabin, but quickly gives them their space when they seem in no mood to reciprocate his excitement. The group huddles in one of the tiny cabins and discusses what now. Annori is pretty convinced that Raiden is on this boat with them - seeing as the only other readily available mode of transportation involves horses and they all know what a miserable rider he is. She does a quick walk around the boat with Detect Magic to see if she can spot any magical disguises, but besides the magical engines and some personal items of the passengers she doesn’t find anything noteworthy. Kevin suggests casting Zone of Truth and just straight-up asking everyone if they’ve seen Raiden based on the poster. (N: ‘and if one of them comments on the nose, we know we got him!’)

They sit in the corner of the dining area as other passengers slowly start coming in. Annori states that they have a week to trap a scared bunny. All they need is a carrot. Kevin notes that Raiden always expressed great interest in meeting his mother. Maybe discussing their imminent meeting with The Fable out in the open would draw him out? Ara doesn’t believe Raiden would react openly to that. In fact, he doesn’t even think he’s on the boat at all. 

Remington waves at the group as he spots them, and Annori and Kevin wave back, much to Ara’s annoyance. ‘Stop that, we’re not here to make friends. And also, he’s creepy. Who smiles all the time??’

Suddenly, Ambassador Findire approaches. He introduces himself to Kevin and Annori and asks if he can speak freely in front of them. (K: ‘Wait did Ara sleep in your room??’ F: ‘A gentleman never kisses and tells.’ K: ‘so kisses, hm? You deserve a drink!’)

Findire explains that he couldn’t get much out of Lady Hartwind. But she did say she doesn’t actually recall going to see Vezal last night. This causes everyone in the group to perk up. Annori says ‘oh my God I bet it was Raiden!’, then punches Kevin in the arm out of sheer excitement when she comes up with the idea to turn into a mouse and run across people’s feet to see who flinches. Findire quietly asks Ara what the fuck they’re talking about, and Annori quickly introduces herself. ‘I also make a great bear, actually.’ F: ‘I’m sure you do. Ara, your friends are delightful.’ A: ‘Yes, that’s the word.’ K: ‘You are a great influence on Ara, sir.’

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Rise and Fall

Chapter 40

The group first heads to the magic component shop, where Annori asks Amarilia Basin to inspect the vial of water she took from the well in the temple. Sadly, it turns out to just be stagnant water. Meanwhile Raiden, feeling like he has something to prove, steals some random mandrake roots from a shelf unnoticed. Quietly, without him overhearing, Annori asks Amarilia if she has any polymorph potions. Amarilia informs her that she’s not, in fact, a potion maker, and she only sells components. Annori asks her if she knows of any potion makers in town, before abruptly realizing that they just came from the potion making halflings at the market. Raiden asks her if anything of interest happened in Coldvale in the past couple of weeks. Ms Basin informs them that the wedding between Lady Hartwind and Lord Owen Taller has been called off. Taller, who belongs to a lesser noble house in Feirenwald, apparently returned there. She assumes the wedding may have been arranged when Lord Hartwind was still alive, and now that he’s passed, the stakes have changed. 

Once outside, Annori dumps out the vial of well-water, and they head towards the familiar Blue Dragon Inn. It’s crowded inside, and Ara looks around to spot Findire, to no avail. Annori sees him looking and tries fishing for more information, but his retorts just leave her puzzled. (N: Are you sure you weren’t looking for a certain elf? A: I don’t know, isn’t your mother a certain elf? N: No, my mom’s a tiefling, like me. A: Then you just answered your own question. N: …??)

As Raiden talks to the innkeep to arrange their rooms, Ara steps in and subtly suggests that they might want to stay somewhere more comfortable for a change, something they surely deserved after their exhausting travels. Kevin and Raiden agree immediately and enthusiastically, and they leave to find fancier lodgings for the night. It doesn’t take much asking around for them to find the Silver Cauldron, a beautiful accommodation where a big cauldron fills the common room with scents of high quality broth and pork from a central fireplace. Raiden once again steps forward, quickly slicking his hair back and popping his collar up, and starts inquiring about renting some rooms. The innkeep, however, gives him a disdainful once-over and dismisses him instantly, as he so clearly doesn’t belong among the upper class clientele of this establishment. Kevin steps in and announces that he is, indeed, Kevin Duckett, the famous bard. Though the innkeep doesn’t seem to know that name, his appearance and the presence of a big swamp-elf bodyguard seem to convince them. Kevin pays for two rooms with two beds each, as the innkeep suggests he shouldn’t send the errand boy (nodding at Raiden) to arrange his business in the future. As the group is being escorted to their rooms, Ara takes much joy in calling Raiden an errand boy some more. Meanwhile, he glances around the room and does indeed spot Findire there. 

The rooms are large and fancy, with incredibly soft beds with pillows that are enchanted to stay cool as you sleep. Annori offers the kid a granola bar, to which Raiden quickly and apologetically adds a silver piece to dismiss him. He then disappears into the bathroom to shave his stubble, more than a little bitter about failing to charm the innkeep. (A: can I borrow that razor when you’re done? I need to shave, as well. R: ...where? A: I- my head!) Annori also freshens up a bit, and braids her hair. Heading back outside again, Raiden pays a gold piece to the innkeep in exchange for their discretion (‘we don’t want hordes of fangirls surrounding the exits’), and then they go to find the wine shop where the Copper Syndicate runs their business. 

Ash takes them along to a room in the back that appears to be an office of sorts, where L is awaiting their arrival. He greets them and asks if there’s a group name he could address them by; a question that catches them off guard and that they decide to file away for later. They then tell him just about everything about their adventures these past weeks; only leaving out the information about Sepha’s location, and their visit to the witch in the woods. L takes all this in, and then fills them in on the investigation the Copper Syndicate’s been running since they left. They discovered that all the victims of the disappearances ten years ago seemed like regular people, but turned out to all have had a shadier side. Conmen, people who abused their power in some way, who used their positions to gain advantages over others. All except the arcane advisor, Egos Orrina, who was murdered: he was largely admired by the people. The culprit, Helena Tarrenwood, was his known rival, and had apparently been considered as his replacement. Helena appeared to be part of a cult that showed similarities to the ‘Masked Ones’ the party has had dealings with. L admitted that Edam Notsk had been untraceable, though they may have found another lead. 

L explains that Tarrenwood was thought to have had a kid, Andreas, about 13 years old at the time, who disappeared for a while. They had managed to trace him to Osta Asari, and later into the continent. Andreas was also known as Benjamin Hallow and Julius Roseward. L suggests that finding this kid could be beneficial, as he might know more about what happened. As he speaks, L maintains direct eye contact with Raiden specifically. Raiden remarks that that would leave them finding just about anybody that age, but Ara notices he seems off. L eventually speaks, quietly: ‘Look, I’m giving you the opportunity to tell them yourself.’

A deafening silence follows, one that seems to last for hours, as everyone turns to look at Raiden who visibly tenses up, terrified. Just when he opens his mouth and it seems he’s about to speak, Raiden suddenly turns on his heels and bolts for the exit. Ara, however, runs and fully tackles the struggling rogue to the ground.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Crankiness and Connections

Chapter 16

The next morning, Raiden wakes up feeling perfectly fine. He takes a moment to inspect the spyglass he found, but from what he can gauge it just seems to be a nice-looking spyglass. He heads downstairs, where he asks a different innkeep for ingredients to make world’s grossest ‘hangover cure’. Heading quietly into the designated ‘hangover-room’, he finds Ara fully passed out on a bed, with his cloak hanging over a chair nearby. Raiden, remembering where he saw the swamp elf pat the fabric before, finds the secret pocket and its contents. Instead of taking them, he examines them and places them back the way he found them, leaving the hangover cure with the sleeping swamp elf. In the meantime, Annori and Kevin awaken in a pile in a single bed and spend some time braiding Annori’s hair. They order breakfast in the shape of two giant piles of ‘Valgharan’ toast, and share it with Raiden (who seems in a great mood for some reason). Eventually, Ara wakes up with the worst headache of his life. Mistaking it for water, he takes a sip out of the Mug Of Gross and instantly spits it back. He shuffles into the common room, groaning and lamenting all the while and with his hair sticking out in every direction. The innkeep demands payment for his stay in the room, which he protests, but Raiden steps in and takes care of it. Ara then asks for a bucket of water to dunk his head in, slowly pulling him out of his terrible state. Eventually, they compose themselves and head for the wine shop to meet with the Copper Syndicate. Here they are greeted by Ellis, who reports he’s feeling much better. Annori gives him some leftover toast, for which he is thankful. Raiden starts the negotiations by handing over the short sword and dagger he found on the body in the archive. L then tells them what they’d already read in the file before: that the harbormaster is covering for Notsk, and may be worth investigating. But that's not all.

L reveals that there’s been many disappearances in the area in recent months. Separately they don’t seem like much, but when you look at all of them together there may be reason to suspect a connection. All disappearances happened on the exact same dates as a streak of disappearances ten years ago, near Feirenwald. Ten years ago on the date of Lord Hartwinds murder, the queens assistant in Feirenwald was killed. They locked up the culprit, a mage woman named ‘Tarrenwood’ who was apparently the victim's rival, bringing an end to the killings and disappearances back then.

L suggests looking into the most recent disappearance, in a nearby town named Louton, where the daughter of Lord Lekore has gone missing. He is said to award a hefty sum to whomever can find his daughter or bring him information on her case. They also hand the group a list of other towns with suspected connections. Annori then pulls out the severed hand from her bag, which has become quite nasty by now, and leaves it on the table. The party explains how they found it, and the Syndicate makes note of it. Raiden asks them what they will be doing while they’re off investigating other towns. L replies that they have more on their hands than just this case, but they will certainly look into Notsk and his assistant further, as well as the mysterious hand. 

The party then sets out to arrange provisions for their journey. They briefly discuss leaving a note for Kevins mom, but he counters that she probably already knows they’re leaving and he doesn’t worry about that. Raiden asks Ara if he has to tell the ambassador he’s leaving town, accidentally revealing the fact that the swamp elf delegation has already left without him. Ara is in no mood to discuss it, though. So instead, they head to Lady Hartwind to announce their departure. She seems very weary, and eager to leave this whole case behind her. She tells them there’s no need to report back to her anymore, and she trusts them to find Notsk and do what’s right. They ask her about the trade route and the wedding, to which she replies that both have been postponed a bit as the ambassador has returned to the swamp to think on their agreement, and there’s just so much going on at the moment. She arranges provisions for them from the kitchens, and the Copper Syndicate provides four horses for them to travel with. It immediately becomes clear that Raiden does not have a way with animals, falling off of his horse the instant he manages to clamber on. Meanwhile Annori befriends her horse with ease, and promises to think of a good name for him. The party leaves Coldvale at around mid-afternoon, on the road to Louton.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Maybe it's Fey?

Chapter 25

The Nifty Squirrel is a dimly lit inn with a handful of patrons spread throughout the common area. Kevin goes up to the owner and orders a big stack of pancakes, and Raiden arranges a room. He also asks them to draw him a bath, and then inquires if they’ve heard of any disappearances happening around here. The owner of the inn, Egfried, visibly uncomfortable, eventually tells them that a guest here vanished from his room one night, several weeks ago, but they’re reluctant to talk about it because they don’t want to get a bad reputation. The victim was a half elf with light brown hair, appearing to be in his twenties (by human standards). Raiden offers to pay his outstanding room bill in order for a chance to look at the bag that was left behind. 

They all sit down to enjoy their pancakes, and Annori notes that Raiden took a long time talking to the innkeep. He jokingly asks her if she thinks he likes him, and Annori looks over to see the two innkeepers exchange a kiss. (K: what are you guys talking about? R: the charms of my open shirt. K: oh yeah, it's uhh, very open)

Annori considers a way to contact her mother in Osta Asari. She eventually concludes that they’re probably just too far away to have an animal messenger reach her. Around them, they overhear some of the other patrons talking about Coldvale and Lord Hartwind, and rumors that he was murdered by a ghost. Raiden goes upstairs to take his bath and be alone with his thoughts for a while, but first he rummages through the half-elfs bag. It’s mostly stuff like paper and ink, as well as a book about lesser creatures in the Feywild that seems to be a work in progress. The name ‘Niles Candler’ is written in it.

Meanwhile, Annori tries to draft a message to her mom, but is unsure of what to say. She tries to order moopleberry juice, but the closest thing they can get her is water with a slice of lemon. Kevin asks Annori what she’s going to say to her mom, and she admits she doesn’t really know. Ara asks Kevin what he would say to his dad, and the bard also draws a blank. He’s not sure if he even misses him, since he never knew him. He just wishes he could talk to his mom about it. Annori asks Ara what it’s like to have parents, but since having a big family is all he knows he’s not sure how to answer that. Annori says she had the druid master Ceresta for a while, but he was never affectionate so it wasn’t the same. Kevin is a little scared about all the secrets his mom apparently has, and doesn’t understand why she had to leave. Annori writes a sweet, encouraging note and sneakily slips it into Kevins pocket. 

Raiden returns, freshly bathed, and tells the group about the contents of the bag. Both Kevin and Ara know something about the Feywild, and it’s common knowledge that the fey are tricksters. If they have something to do with this disappearance, it might be a tough one for the party to solve. The most recent notes in the book were about sprites, but it seems unlikely that sprites lifted Niles Candler from his bed for some reason. They ask the other innkeep about details, and he mentions the window was open in the room when they went to check on him, but not much else of note was found. Since it’s been three weeks, there’s very little chance of finding any tracks there now. The innkeep doesn’t know of any fey presences in the area, and when Annori mentions the weirdness of the forest surrounding them he seems surprised and very freaked out. Raiden notes that they technically don’t need to solve the disappearances, as long as they find out what connects them, so it might be worthwhile to just go to the next town and see if that one, too, has connections to the Feywild. As they head upstairs, Egfried stops them and mentions that there was a group of people here at the time who were traveling to Coldvale. A broad shouldered man, a short haired tall blonde lady, and a small dark haired possibly half elven man. Ara asks if he remembers the shape of their ears, but he does not, to Ara’s great annoyance. (A: ‘ugh, this is why you only get to live for 80 years’ R: ‘Why can you not have a single normal civil conversation??’) Agitated by Ara’s bluntness towards their host, Raiden rushes ahead, leaving the rest of the group clueless as to which room is actually theirs. They knock on several other doors, confusing and annoying the occupants (‘Who are you??’ A: ‘I am the phantom of your past!’), before Raiden lets them into the right one. They decide to take watch during the night, just in case whatever took Niles Candler decides to make an appearance. During his watch, Kevin discovers Annori’s note and is moved by her kind words. He replies in kind on the back of the paper and puts it in her bag. Suddenly, he hears his mother's voice again, telling him she got his letters and she wants to talk, but not like that. Desperate, Kevin whispers a reply, asking her how and when, but she just says ‘Not like that. I’m sorry. I love you.’.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Tavern Shenanigans

Chapter 7

They leave Lady Hartwinds office and go to Raiden and Kevins room to pack up. There they see Saida Farlynn waiting. They ask Annori and Ara to come along to speak to the ambassador, who apparently had been awaiting a report on the progress of the investigation, and their efforts to put the trade route in a good light. Both stumble awkwardly through the conversation, and Ara gets reprimanded by Farlynn, pressing him to do better from here on out, since he’s part of the military and this is why he’s here in the first place. Meanwhile, Kevin thanks Raiden for getting him out of captivity. He tells him that he’s not sure what to think about all this new information on his mother, and that he’s both excited and a little nervous to reunite with her.

On the way to the tavern, the party tries to find Danis Marsh at the docks to invite him out for a drink, but he’s not there since it’s after hours, so they go without him. The Blue Dragon tavern is small, dark and very crowded, with a very different sort of folk than the people they saw at the funeral feast. The tall, half orc barkeep rents them a two person bedroom, which Kevin, still in his fancy disguise, pays for. The party gets drinks and shenanigans ensue. Kevin gets into a friendly bard battle with a talented guitarist while Annori pulls Raiden up for a dance. Raiden plays a guessing game with Ara, making assumptions about his life. Ara is willing to play for a bit, confirming some statements and denying others, downing water versus Raidens mead, until Raiden states that Ara has a big, dark, terrible secret and he goes back to sitting in silence.

As the night goes on, Raiden wears Kevins hat and loudly sings a song from on top of the table. Annori bursts into tears and declares her love for everyone. She also tells them about how she made up her last name, and how she was found by a druid named ‘mister Ceresta’ as she was growing a plant in an alley, who took her to the swamp and taught her magic. When pressed, Raiden reveals that he grew up in the streets of Osta Asari, the kingdom’s capital, and that he has no last name nor any family to speak of. Annori tries to teach him thaumaturgy, but Raidens dramatic gestures sadly have no effect.

He spends some time attuning to the dagger of life stealing they found in Notsks office before going to bed. Eventually, they all sleep off their hangovers, though some a little quicker than others. Raiden and Ara go out to meet with the captain of the guard, Hailyse Reed, to ask her about Notsk. She tells them she has no record of him leaving, and assures them that he might be back already. She also expresses her dislike for Miss Fenwick, Notsks assistant, who she finds very haughty and a bit of a bitch. The guards take Ara and Raiden to Notsks office, still deserted. This time, however, the office is in complete disarray…

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Anyway, Murder.

Chapter 1.

In the town of Coldvale, a funeral feast is being held to honor the late Lord Hartwind, who died under mysterious circumstances. He had been working on solidifying a trade route between Coldvale and the elves in the nearby swamp. Ara Kresh, swamp elf ranger, and Annori Sneezeweed, tiefling druid, arrive as part of the swamp elf delegation, along with their ambassador. The well known human bard Kevin Duckett is there to provide music for this sad occasion. Meanwhile, one of the servants isn’t quite like the others, as the human rogue Raiden blends into the background to pick up information on the murder.

They meet several of the town’s important figures, such as the captain of the guard, the merchants’ representative, the arcane advisor and the clergy for Pelor who form the council together, as well as the daughter of the Lord and her fiancée. Ara strikes up conversation with the person closest to him, a fellow named Danis Marsh, who is definitely not charmed by Ara’s talk about toads. An accompanying song by Kevin doesn’t improve his mood much. At some point during the evening, Lady Hartwind rises and confirms the suspicions that they are treating her father’s death as a murder case. Upon further inquiry, Raiden hears the man was found stabbed, with missing limbs, and surrounded by symbols written in blood. They also say the Lord became a little paranoid in the end.

As the funeral guests all go outside for the burning of the Lord’s body, suddenly a fiery specter rises from the pyre and attacks everyone. The crowd immediately disperses, leaving only four individual misfits to deal with the problem. After a frightening battle, Raiden manages to slay the specter. Unfortunately, this blows his cover in front of Lady Hartwind, and he confesses having impersonated one of her staff members. The Lady tells the four of them to take a room inside the castle to sleep for the night, and to meet her in the morning to discuss these harrowing events…

all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Breaking out of Prison today!

Chapter 6

Exiting the shop, they debate on what to do. Eventually they leave a message for Kevin with Amarillia Basin, telling him to meet the group back at the keep later, should he make his way here. They walk in the direction they saw him leave last night, and ask around if anybody’s seen him. The passersby are of little help. The cats, however… Bribing them with food, Annori gets one to lead them to the docks. Here the party stumbles once more, to his dismay, onto Danis Marsh, the poor lad they ‘bonded with’ at the funeral feast! He can’t help much, but he does mention that the docks are a dangerous place at night.

In the meantime, Kevin learns that his mother was part of the Copper Syndicate. She was even referred to as ‘kind of a big deal’, and was apparently known as ‘the Fable’. According to the guard, she was this super kick-ass, sexy, supernatural rogue who had a falling out with the big boss. Kevin tries to pick the lock with the feather on his hat, but to no avail. He tries to charm the guard, but he manages to resist. He then hears his mother’s voice in his mind, encouraging him and telling him to try again. This time, he successfully charms the guard, and convinces him to let him stretch his legs for a bit outside of his cell.

Another cat leads the party away from the docks, back into town, to a fancy wine shop. Raiden knowingly enters, and with a secret password gains entry to the trap door in the back. He can’t convince the shopkeeper to let Annori come, but she wildshapes into a rat and follows anyway, leaving Ara alone outside to stand guard. The shopkeeper shows him the secret passage in the cellar, then heads back upstairs. In an attempt to get Raidens attention, rat-Annori starts circling his leg, causing him to panic and kick her back into her tiefling self. Silently arguing, he convinces her to stay behind until he returns, and leaves her pouting in the cellar. Raiden then enters a room that contains Kevin and the guard. Introducing himself as ‘V’, Raiden manages to persuade the charmed guard to hand Kevin over to him, in order to present him as bait for ‘the Fable’. In the hallway, they bump into Annori, who had grown tired of waiting, and the three of them reconvene in the cellar. Kevin disguises himself as the guard, while Annori transforms back into a rat, and together they exit the wine shop (Raiden having pocketed one expensive bottle of wine).

Back at their room in the keep, Kevin explains how he was taken and held captive to lure his mother, whose involvement was a complete shock to him. They discuss their safety and their next course of action, as they prepare to meet with Lady Hartwind who had once again asked to see them. Ara expresses serious concerns about incriminating Notsk, fearing it will reflect badly on the swamp elves and the trade route, stating he doesn’t care if innocents die if it protects his people. Eventually, they go see the Lady. She doesn’t seem to react to Kevins sudden freedom, meaning she probably wasn’t involved, and so Annori decides to tell her about their suspicions. They don’t mention the Copper Syndicate or Kevin’s disappearance, however.

Lady Hartwind then allows them to continue the investigation secretly, with a signed paper with her permission, for the time being. She does ask Raiden and Kevin to find other lodgings outside the keep, so as to not raise suspicion. They get paid 100 gold pieces, split four ways. Ara refuses to take his share, but Raiden scoops it back up into the pouch anyway. Kevin also gets his payment for the performance at the funeral.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

Snorks and Secrets

Chapter 3.

After Annori tried flirting her way past a secretary, they got to speak to Lady Townsend, who was very busy and didn’t have much patience for their questions. Then there was the merchant representative, Edam Notsk, who suspected Vezal of becoming power hungry. In return for his information, Annori taught him about snorks: a creature she’s never seen but is sure exists. They’re supposedly big and scaly, with horns. As they leave, Annori mentions that she used to be a street thief as well. Slightly sceptical, Raiden coins a challenge: if she can steal something off of his person without him noticing, she’ll get to keep it.

Upon returning to the castle, Raiden and Annori go back to Vezals office and steal his coded notes, which they only *just* manage to pull off under the watchful eye of his assistant. They are then summoned by Lady Hartwind, who announced that Vezal had been arrested upon re-entering Coldvale, due to the rumors of strange magic and his arguing with Lord Hartwind before his death. Taken by surprise and unsure of his guilt, the group asks to speak to Vezal immediately.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>

[anywaymurder]

You're Hired!

Chapter 2.

The next morning, Lady Hartwind summons the gang and asks them to investigate the murder of her father in return for a reward. She tells them Lord Hartwind hadn’t been himself before his death: he became distrusting and wanted to install a curfew for the whole town. With the horrible condition his body was found in, and now the presence of a specter indicating that his soul had not been able to peacefully move on, there had to be something terrible going on. She points them in the direction of several people they could talk to. The newly made party goes to talk to the arcane advisor, Vezal, first, but his assistant tells them he left hurriedly in order to find a better library and is supposed to be back the next day. As they look inside his office they discover the place is a mess, and there’s several interesting notes lying about, as well as books on divination and conjuration magic.

They move on to Lord Hartwinds room to inspect the crime scene. For such a supposedly bloody crime, there was surprisingly little blood in the room: only one small pool on the floor. It looked like it had dripped down from above, though the ceiling appeared clean. The lord was apparently found on his desk, with his throat cut, his eyes pierced, three missing fingers on his right hand, and his tongue removed. They’re told that upon discovering the body, the guards saw symbols all over the room that disappeared as soon as they came in. Both guards were suspended at the moment, because neither was at their post the moment it happened.

The party decides to split up to work more efficiently. Raiden and Kevin meet with the captain of the guard, who tells them one of the suspended guards had stomach issues and the other had ‘problems with a boy’. She suspects someone may have been trying to take advantage of Lady Hartwinds inexperience. On their way back, Raiden asks Kevin about his apparent singing career. To his surprise, Kevin tells him that he usually performs with his mother, but she disappeared recently, leaving him worried and confused.

Meanwhile, Ara and Annori find Lady Farora, the clergy for Pelor the Sun God, but don’t learn much of note.

They then all go to see the priestess of the Raven Queen. She explains how there were traces of necromantic magic found on Lord Hartwinds throat, pointing towards an enchanted tool, and how taking his tongue might have been a precaution to prevent magic users from asking him questions after his death.

<< previous chapter | all chapters | next chapter >>