Chapter 9: Somewhere Else, Some Other Time

Felicia awoke slowly to the sound of humming coming from nearby. It was almost sunrise and the campfire from the night before had all but died completely, leaving a couple of stubborn glowing embers. It was still dark, and what little light the ashes were still producing didn't help her see very well. She knew where the humming was coming from though. "Do you always hum when you read?" she asked as she sat up on her bedroll.

Xander looked up from the spellbook he was studying glancing toward the direction of his sister. "I'm not reading, what you do with a spellbook when you're preparing for the day is way more complicated then 'reading'. It involves a whole other level of discipline and intelligence."

"Are you saying I have no discipline or intelligence then?" she asked back as she stood up.

Xander chuckled. "I wasn't saying that exactly, but now that you mention it. No you show a great deal of discipline with your chosen sword arts and its related techniques. It's just not the same kind of discipline, since you seem to want to simplify spellcasting to reading a book."

Felicia started her daily stretching routine to prepare for the day. "Well that stuff never caught my fancy and I definitely don't feel like I missed out on anything. When you were stuck inside day after day training under that wizard, I was having fun running obstacle courses and other challenges with my trainer."

"To each their own I guess" he said as he returned his attention to the spellbook again. "And the humming helps me to concentrate, so you'll have to keep putting up with it." He began to hum softly a few moments later.

Felicia smirked then started making clicking noises with her mouth. "And making annoying clicking noises helps my muscles stretch."

Xander groaned "You're so immature some days."

"I aim to please" she responded.

A couple minutes later as the two of them continued their morning preparations, the sun started to rise in the distance giving an increasing amount of light. When there was finally enough light to see their surroundings better, the both wrapped up what they were doing. Xander stood up from the log he had been sitting on. "Let's pack up camp and get going while the day is still young, we've got our work cut out for us today."

As Felicia started packing her belongings into her backpack she asked "What did the job notice say again?"

Xander pulled the rolled up parchment out of a scroll tube and scanned it quickly. "We are to supposed to deal with some local bandit activity on the road we're traveling today. Hopefully we don't appear too menacing and frighten them away."

Felicia laughed "Yeah, I don't think you have to worry any about appearing menacing. You're not very intimidating at all."

"Quit your teasing sister, I'd like to think I'm subtlety threatening. Well times a wasting, lets get into some trouble."

Felicia kicked some dirt into ashes of the campfire extinquishing the last embers from the fire and then followed Xander towards the road. "I hope I stretched enough, today sounds like its going to be lots of fun."

Chapter 8: Moving On

It was mid afternoon before the Nadia and Clavidicus managed to get up. Allium seemed more then content to keep sleeping. Since she would have trouble going outside with them anyways, she wasn't strongly motivated to get up yet.

Clavidicus looked excitedly at the sizable pile of treasure. "This is going to be quite a payoff."

Nadia nodded. "I have to agree. Just so we don't arouse any kind of unwanted attention, perhaps we should try to sell a handful of this stuff at a time. There are a couple of shops around town that would probably buy various different items. Trying to sell all of this at one shop would certainly raise eyebrows."

"That's fine with me, I didn't want to carry it all at once again anyways."

The sorted the stuff into piles before grabbing the first pile and heading off to the store that would buy those items. As she did the day before, Nadia put on an over the top charismatic performance to squeeze a bigger offer out of the shopkeeper then throwing everything on the counter and asking for a price would have achieved.

Nadia and Clavidicus returned to the room after they were finished with the first shop to grab the next pile of goods to repeat the process. After another two more trips like this, all of the treasure had been sold. The returned to the room again, this time to seperate and hand out each of the shares of the profits.

Clavidicus finished counting his share before storing it in his money pouch. "Now that the money thing is settled, I'd like to take a couple of days to train a little more."

Allium nodded. "Yeah, I think I'd like to train as well, try out some of these new powers I've received. I'd like to know what my limitations are."

"We're in aggreeance then." Nadia announced "Let's set aside about 3 days to take care of our own studies or training before we assess our next move. This isn't the most well stocked town I've ever visited, but I'm sure I'll be able to get some studying in at the local temple."

The three of them spent the next three days attempting to hone their skills and abilities. Occasionally they would cross each other's paths in the room or out on the streets. The reconverged in the room a few days later.

Nadia spoke first. "Well its glad to see both of you back here, hopefully your studies or training went well. So what are we going to do next?"

Clavidicus frowned. "I really hate to say this, but I think this might be the point where I have to part ways with you two. Traveling with both of you and fighting along side you has proven to be an amazing experience. The amount of gold we managed to earn was quite significant. I think my path must take me elsewhere though. I hope you understand."

Allium put her arms around Clavidicus in a hug. "I understand. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Nadia smiled. "I figured I'd scare you away eventually."

"No, its not that. I just have some plans I'd like to start working on, and I don't want to hold you both back. I'm heading to Glacerin to gather support for my cause. I'll always remember this last week though. I had noticed a nice defendable plot of land for sale not far from here that I'd like to build a keep on some day. Perhaps soon I'll be able to return to the area to purchase that land."

"Alright big guy, come give Nadia a hug. I appreciate everything you've done for me. Don't be a stranger. I think me and Allium are going to continue on for more adventures as soon as night falls."

"Alright then. I'm going to depart as soon as possible though. As much fun as it is to travel at night, it wrecks havoc upon my senses." Clavidicus started gathering up his belongings.

Nadia said "Before you leave, I'd like to take you down to the finest tailor in town to get you a new set of clothes. That will help immensely with your efforts in Glacerin. You'll also have to give me a few minutes to write you some letters of introduction to some contacts I know in the city."

Nadia lead Clavidicus to the tailor and a few hours later, they returned to the room again with the new clothes wrapped in a bundle. Clavidicus finished gathering up his belongings, and grabbed another round of hugs. "I hope to see you two again." He waved one last time before walking out the door.

Nadia and Allium looked at each other. "What next?"

Allium grinned bearing her fangs. "Let's kill more stuff. I'd also like more treasure. I think those two go hand and hand."

"Sounds like a plan. When do we start?"

Chapter 7: No Shortage of Short Creatures

It was quite late into the night when the three arrived in the relative location the dwarf had described where he was attacked. In the darkness, it was easy to identify a couple of caves not too far off that had some light coming from them. The three approached the caves cautiously and once they were closer, the sounds of various sentient creatures carrying on loudly could be heard from within.

Clavidicus whispered "I'll give that dwarf one thing, his directions were spot on."

Nadia shook her head. "Are you still going on about that damn dwarf? I'm sure this adventure will prove to profitable, because reallocation of wealth through violence is always profitable. And had we not spoken with him, we'd probably not be here right now. I'll tell you what though, we'll go back and kill him in as many ways as possible, and maybe over and over again if this tip doesn't prove to be worth our time."

Allium asked "How would we be able to kill him more then once?"

"Some of these clerics and priests in the smaller villages will believe any sob story you bring in and provide free or significantly reduced resurrection services." Nadia gave her best doe eyed face. "Mr. Cleric sir, my friend fell down some stairs, twice, onto hot coals and this scimitar. Help me, I can't go on without ... uh ... good ole Gruntbeard at my side."

Clavidicus nodded. "Alright as long as you keep your word, now I almost want this trip not to work out so I can pay our 'friend' a visit later."

"Lets not get ahead of ourselves quite yet, lets see what sort of mayhem we can cause for some little bandit Kobolds.

The trio took one final moment to prepare, and picked the cave on the left to start with. They quickly found that both caves lead to the same cavern. After a battle broke out, it seemed like the kobolds kept coming from every direction. Curiously enough, there were at least a handful of goblins within the tunnel system leading deeper into the depths. In a brief lull in the onslaught, the three sat down for a moment.

Clavidicus asked "Have you guys noticed the goblins in a couple of these rooms. Kobolds and goblins don't generally get along all that well. I'm pretty sure they only ever work together if someone or something makes them forcefully. This is going to get a little harder no doubt, especially if we find out whats at the bottom."

"More treasure" Allium stated.

"That would certainly be welcome. Unguarded large piles of treasure are the best" Clavidicus replied.

Nadia motioned the other two to get up. "More baddies coming, break time is over."

The three fought their way for a while deeper and deeper. They eventually find what they had expected, more powerful creatures, a bugbear thug named Claw and a particularly nasty kobold sorcerer who called itself Garl. The two of them were guarding a nice pile of treasure, ill gotten no doubt. The three dispatched of Garl and Claw claiming the treasure that Garl had amassed as their own.

As the trio gathered up all the treasure they found, Clavidicus comment "We found a whole lot of coins here, unfortunately most are copper or silver pieces. We're probably going to have to drag it out of here and even worse, back to town."

Nadia pouted. "You wouldn't want one of us girls to get hurt dragging all that heavy weight around, would you?"

"OK I'm going to have to drag it back to town." He thought for a moment. "You two fight with a furiously I've never seen before in battle and carrying loot is what you're afraid is going to hurt you."

As Clavidicus dragged all the treasure back through the cave system, Nadia and Allium followed just behind him talking. "This has been a lot of fun, and not all that hard either. Look at all the stuff we found" Allium said as they walked.

Clavidicus cut in. "That's easy for you to say. I seemed like every trap in the place caught me. First I got shot in the shoulder by one arrow trap, and the next arrow trap got me in the leg. Then I fell in that pit trap, and had a difficult time getting out with all the treasure I had picked up by that point."

Nadia laughed. "You're a tough boy, you can handle a little abuse from some simple traps."

"Yeah, the pay-off should ease my pain a good amount" Clavidicus said as they reached the surface. "Let's get back to town so I can get some rest."

The trio started to walk back to town. It would be a sizable walk and they would have to make it back before sunrise for sure. Nadia added "We can't sleep in too long tomorrow, we have to catch the shops open so we can get rid of some of the items we don't need."

They all nodded in agreement. Allium stated "This goes without saying, but I'll let the two of you handle the selling. I think I'll wait patiently in the room."

The trip seemed a lot longer on the way back because all of them were tired from all the action. It felt especially long for Clavidicus dragging a sizable collection of stuff back in a large sack they had found. By the time they made it to town, they found a place in the room to stash all the loot for now and crashed for the rest of the night and early morning.

Chapter 6: Rough Night, Rough Day

As Allium tried to sleep, she was plagued with nightmares and visions involving the man that had attacked her. She woke up many times in a cold sweat and could not stay asleep for more then a few minutes at a time.

As the sun finally rose, Allium looked incredibly sickly and pale. Nadia and Clavidicus got up to start the day but Allium didn't get up from her bed, but continued to experience confusion and nightmares.

"Oh man, she looks pretty bad" Clavidicus commented as he and Nadia stood over Allium. "Perhaps we should just leave her in bed to recover this morning."

Nadia felt Allium's forehead. "She looks like she has a fever but she's just about deathly cold to the touch. Allium dear, if you can hear me, we're going to go look into selling some of this stuff, stay here and try to get better."

Clavidicus grabbed all the loot from last night and followed Nadia out the door. Just outside the room, Nadia whispered to him "She's probably not going to make it, we should be prepared for the very real possibility we'll be returning to a corpse. Oh and I call dibs on her body."

"I'm very much hoping you mean her possessions."

Nadia smirked. "Sure, lets go with that."

Clavidicus frowned. "I really shouldn't be surprised anymore, but yet I still am. Well anyways, time's a wasting, and my stomach and pockets are empty, a problem I'm sure you never experience."

Nadia punched him hard in the shoulder. "I get by alright, what's the big deal?"

The two moved downstairs and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out to the local shops to try and unload what 'valuables' they had happened upon the night before in the graveyard. Among the loot were various trinkets and jewelry that were probably family heirlooms buried with the deceased residents of town. These poor souls were most unfortunately used as undead and now their relics were about to be pawned off for a few measly silver pieces.

"Hello fair folk, welcome to my humble little shop" said the old shopkeeper as Nadia and Clavidicus entered. "You do not seem familiar faces, so visitors to our town you must be. I bid you a hearty welcome and hope you'll find something to your liking."

Clavidicus dumped the bag of treasure onto the front counter. "Today we're interested in maybe leaving this stuff off here in exchange for some of your coin."

"Sure, lets have a look at what you have here. Perhaps a few of your items will I purchase today." The man took out a piece of shaped glass and started to investigate what was laid before him. "I would ask where these items came from, or why they are covered in dirt and mud, but I suspect I wouldn't like the answer."

Nadia punched Clavidicus in the arm. "See I told you we should have taken them out to the river to rinse off some of the mud, and the decayed fle..uh flower petals." She looked back at the shopkeeper. "We'd like you to make us an offer on the whole pile and don't hold back any. My boy here needs all the money he can get to buy me nice things, I deserve nice things don't I good sir?"

The shopkeeper smiled. "Yes M'Lady, I think I can offer you a more then fair price for what I see before me." He then scanned the pile one more time before counting out a pile of gold and sliding it in a bag over to them.

After returning to the inn, Nadia and Clavidicus stopped to talk to the injured old dwarf who had returned again. Nadia asked Clavidicus to just stay back a little and keep his comments to himself as she conversed with the dwarf. "Good day honored dwarf, what manner of beast has inflicted these wounds upon you."

"Aye I be minding my own business the other day as I traveled from the north and I find myself surrounded by little reptile-faced creatures with spears and slings. Where as I have no doubt I could have taken a couple or five, they just kept coming and I was overwhelmed fast. I was only able to escape with my life after I abandoned all my possessions and ran as fast as my legs could take me. I think they were more interested in my stuff then in me luckily. I had sustained a good amount of injuries and am stuck here till I recover. Then I'll be on my way. I would suggest if you travel that way, you be prepared for trouble from those little buggers."

Nadia said "I appreciate your warning, we shall keep it in mind were we to head that way, good day." She then motioned Clavidicus to follow her up to the room. When they opened the doors, they found that the room was unusually dark on account that someone had placed blankets over the windows. "Allium, you still there?"

Allium answered "Yes, I'm fine, I guess. Come in and close the door. There's been a slight development." Nadia and Clavidicus looked at each other and then moved in and closed the door behind them. "I think I figured out what happen to me in the alleyway."

Allium met the two in the middle of the room where there was just enough light to see each other. Nadia said "Well what happened, you look and sound a whole lot better though still incredibly pale." Allium grinned at Nadia. Nadia then responded "Oh, uh, those are some nice fangs you have. Are you contagious?"

"Not unless you want me to be" she said laughing. "I'm thinking I'm going to sunburn easy from now on."

Clavidicus just stared on in disbelief before talking. "I used to think I had an interesting life. These last couple days, I've been proven so very wrong. You can borrow my thick cloak if you need it."

Allium grinned. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Nadia cut in. "That reminds me, I managed to find us some more entertainment. There appears to be some manner of reptilian bandits just north of town that might be fun to visit today err...this afternoon. I'm sure they've amassed more then what we made last night. Speaking of which, here's your cut of the goods from last night." Nadia counted out a share of gold and dumped them into Allium's hands.

The three spent the rest of the daylight in the room doing their own things. Allium spent most of the day experimenting with all the new feelings she was experiencing. Nadia sat in the corner doing a mixture of meditation and reading from some dusty tome. Clavidicus sharpened his blades the whole time which seemed to irritate Nadia enough that she eventually kicked him outside the room to do it.

When evening fell, they stopped in at the inn on their way out to grab some dinner. Allium ordered three rare steaks this time, as bloody as they could come. Clavidicus broke down and got the steak as well, though his was at least partcially cooked.

Afterwards, the three set out of town along the north road hoping to find some trouble. As they walked, Nadia spoke. "This can't be all that bad a development, I've always felt I do my best work at night and I've never been so fond of light. I always felt that the more interesting people come out at night anyways."

Chapter 5: What Were We Thinking

"This all seems so cliché if you ask me." Allium said as the three of them stood at the entrance to the Windy Tree graveyard.

"What are you talking about?" Clavidicus asked.

"Well look, we have an extremely weather worn wooden fence, a gate hanging half off the hinges, and billowing fog rolling from somewhere deeper in the graveyard. Is it really that much effort to take care of the fence, maybe replace it when it gets too worn?"

Clavidicus examined the gate a bit closer. "You have a point, this gate was supposed to keep people out at night. It doesn't seem like it's serving that function anymore, so whoever was locking it, just decided to stop?"

"Maybe it was locked to keep something in" Nadia added. "And whomever was locking it at night didn't manage to lock it fast enough one night before something got out and got him."

"Why do you say things like that, you're really creepy you know that?" Clavidicus said as he looked wearily over at Nadia.

"I'm not saying that that was what happened, though it's an explanation all the same." she retorted.

Allium cut in. "Well explain to me the swirling fog and mist but no apparent wind to be moving it like that."

Clavidicus nodded. "Yeah Nadia, explain that." He paused for a moment before realizing maybe he didn't want to hear her explanation.

"Despair."

Allium and Clavidicus both said "What?" pretty much at the same time.

"What, oh it's varying differences in temperature close to the ground that cause localized air movement which is pretty much undiscerable to us."

Clavidicus groaned. "Whatever, can we get on with this little trip? I'd like to get some sleep before day break."

Allium added "Yes shall we?"

The three stepped through the open gate into the graveyard. The graves consisted of roughly cut headstones and in many cases, loosely packed dirt patches. Clavidicus bent down to investigate one such dirt patch closely. "Doesn't anyone else find it a little disturbing that so many of these graves have recently disturbed dirt?"

Nadia answered "I don't" and Allium just shrugged.

He continued "I'm just saying this sort of thing would only be caused by a few situations, none of which seem all that comforting. Either recently a whole lot of people in town died, which doesn't explain how old these headstones look. And who is dying exactly? Maybe they don't like visitors all that much and we're about to be waylayed by a mob of townfolk which can easily push us into an open grave. After they dispense of us of course. Never been a big fan of being buried alive."

Allium cut in. "What better a way then to be killed by the earth's loving embrace?"

Clavidicus looked over in Allium's direction. "You're officially on the same list as Nadia for level of creepiness Allium." Allium winked at Clavidicus, or he thought she winked. It was getting harder to tell what anyone was doing as the fog was obscuring what little light his torch was providing. "The other possibility is that there has been a large group of grave robbers here recently which is a little easier to handle for me. Men I can kill, in smaller amounts then a town-wide crazed mob at least. Perhaps that dwarf in the inn is somehow involved. All I know is if that dwarf comes at me, I'll give him something to bleed about."

"You're leaving out a third possibility" Nadia said ominiously. "You probably don't want to know what it is."

Clavidicus felt a chill go down his back. "Yep don't tell me, I'd rather not know."

The three continued cautiously down a worn dirt path deeper into the cemetary. It wasn't long before their trip got interruptted by a group of skeletons that seemed to be animated still long after whoever's bones they were had died. "And this would be the third possibility" Nadia said as she reached into her dress for her necklace.

"I would have been ok not ever seeing reanimated bodies in this lifetime" Clavidicus shouted as he drew his weapon. "Hopefully Nadia, you really can defend yourself as good as you say you can. And Allium, stay back unless...oh you have daggers, nevermind."

The undead approached with unrelenting vigor with clawed hands flailing emitting horrible noises as they attacked. Clavidicus was able to place a couple well placed hacks into one while Allium took focus on another with precision cuts.

Nadia got close to her two companions as another two skeletons approached them. She held her necklace out shouting "You will stop before me, for returning to the dust awaits you!" Both skeletons stopped their approach and just crouched cowering in front of Nadia. "Finish them off, they shall resist no longer" she said to Clavidicus. Clavidicus did as was requested and before long the three of them were scattering the bones of the redeceased looking for anything of value.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Nadia asked of Allium and Clavidicus.

"Now that I know what I'm up against, it's not so bad I guess, but I think maybe I would have declined had I known ahead of time" Clavidicus said as he picked up a dented piece of jewelery.

"My weapons aren't nearly as effective as I'd like but if more wealth is to be got, I say bring em on." Allium was showing a whole lot more energy and excitement now then when they had first met her. She really seemed to be in her element out in the middle of the night.

"That's the spirit" Nadia said excitedly. "Lets see how deep this path goes."

They hadn't traveled too much further before they ran into more skeletons as well as some undead that still had flesh hanging off them. As the three fought these creatures, Allium asked "What are these with the flesh still hanging on their bones, my weapons seem to be slightly more effective."

Nadia answered "Those are zombies. They're more resilient, and use a slightly different kind of magic to animate. They have more surfaces to attack, so your weapons should do more damage to them in the process of attacking."

Clavidicus though it was quite disturbing how knowledgable Nadia seemed about these things. He was a little too caught up in the battle to give it too much thought, but less and less was surprising him every moment he spent in her company.

Adjusting for the new kind of enemy, Allium and Clavidicus along side Nadia were able to take down the whole lot of undead as they approached. As they were looking for things of value upon the fallen foes, a large wolf sized rat creature with a disturbingly large toothy maw showed up and started feasting on one of the zombie corpses. Allium pointed from a good distance away at it. "What is that thing?"

Nadia responded "That's a corpse eater, a distant relative of the common rat that grows excessly mutated and large by feasting on tainted flesh and bone. They're pretty dangerous, so we'll keep our distance if we can help it."

"You don't have to tell me twice" Clavidicus said as he hid from the creature behind the two women. All three backtracked a little ways away from the creature.

Seeing as the battles they had endured started to take their toll upon the adventurers, they agreed to call well enough alone and take what treasures they had found and go get some rest.

It was well into the night before they managed to make it to their room at the inn. They all but colapsed into the beds after securing what they had found in a chest in the corner and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 4: Getting Inn Trouble

Nadia followed close after by Allium and Clavidicus examined their surroundings as they entered the inn. The first thing they noticed were the pleasant sounds of music that seemed to fill the room ever so slightly louder then the mixed chatter of all the tavern patrons. Looking around, Nadia determined the source to be a lone bard sitting in the corner by himself strumming timidly on his lute.

It was pretty clear that the bard was just fiddling around with it, perhaps composing a tune, but not really trying to perform it for others. The music was pleasant and flowing yet had a very haunting charm to it. The bard also seemed to be contributing further to the tune by humming to himself, as he worked through its melody.

No one in the inn seemed to have paid any attention to the three as they entered, as everyone seemed to continue minding their own business. The only exception was the barkeep who threw a rag over his shoulder and nod in their direction. He soon after moved on to help another patron that was sitting at the bar and had amassed a sizable collection of empty tankards already.

"Lets grab a seat close to him so we can perhaps gain a word or two of his lyrics as we listen" Nadia said as she pointed to a vacant table in the same area of the inn as the bard. Neither of her companions put up any objections. The three made their way over to the empty table and sat down.

Soon after sitting down, Allium laid her head on the table. Nadia started playing with Allium's hair. "Rest for a little dear, you're still not looking so hot." Nadia then noticed that Clavidicus was looking off to another part of the room. "What are you looking at big guy?" she asked.

"There's an old dwarf that looks like he's been roughed up pretty bad judging from the scars and the bandages that are bleeding through" he answered smiling to himself.

Nadia looked over in the same direction. The dwarf Clavidicus was talking about did look in pretty bad shape. He seemed pretty entranced by the fire nearby and was staring intently into it. "Are you smiling because he's injured?"

Clavidicus laughed "I'm not a big fan of dwarves to be honest. I've had bad experiences, you know, my fair share of bad dreams about axe-wielding dwarf murderers. When I see a dwarf injured as bad as that, I think that he probably had it coming."

A waitress walked close by and Clavidicus flagged her down. "Can we order some food
please."

She smiled and walked over. "Yes, what can I get you tonight? Our special tonight is the steak."

Allium lifted her head up suddenly. "I'll take two plates of the special, rare as it comes" before slamming her head back down on the table.

"And what about you two" the waitress asked to Clavidicus and Nadia.

"I saw someone else had a ham and vegetable plate over there. I'd like one of those and one of your house ales" Nadia asked politely.

"Yeah same here, but make it two pints of ale for me" said Clavidicus. After the waitress left, Clavidicus asked Allium "You're such a small little woman, sure you're going to be able to handle two steak plates?" Allium lifted her head just high enough to give him a look that verified she meant business.

When the food and ale arrived, Allium tore through both of her steaks with her bare hands in a most disturbing fashion while Nadia and Clavidicus sat and ate quietly. Clavidicus spoke soon after saying "I'm sorry I doubted you shorty, and might I say you're looking a little better now. Also this ale isn't all that bad, and its almost cold too."

After the three were about finished with their meals, the barkeep wandered over to their table. "Hope ye found the meals to your liking mates. We don't get a whole lot of visitors these days. I thought I should give you a word of warning, strange things seem to occur near the graveyards at night that no one can explain that well, so ye best keep your distance till morning's light. I'd recommend you stay indoors at night as well but that's for your safety. Ye don't know what might be lurking in the shadows. But seeing as ye folks seem to have your wits about ye, I'm sure ye know how to handle yourselves in the presence of danger."

Nadia smiled at the man. "The meals were great and thank you for your warning. We shall take it under advisement." After hearing that, the barkeep returned to behind the bar to again help the patron sitting there with his collection of empty tankards.

Seeming a little more refreshed, Allium commented "Well he pretty just asked us to go check out the graveyard, a task I feel quite inclined to fulfill."

Nadia laughed. "I couldn't agree more, think of the adventure that awaits us within the fog filled reaches of that cemetary. Clavidicus, wouldn't you agree?"

Clavidicus looked around uneasily at both Allium and Nadia and seeing the sparkle in their eyes, quickly changing his demeanor to appear more confident. "Yes this would be a ...uh...grand adventure, no danger too dangerous, no challenge too challenging, let's be off and all that." Clavidicus tried his best to hide a yawn as the girls headed for the door to go get into some trouble in the town's graveyard. "Hey wait up!" he said as he scurried to catch up.

Chapter 3: Windy Tree In The Dark

"Oh yeah that's one creepy looking town." Clavidicus commented as Nadia and him stood at the top of the small hill overlooking the town of Windy Tree.

Nadia laughed at him. "It's not that bad, not yet at least. Darkness hasn't overtaken it yet, though soon."

The town of Windy Tree just a short walk from where they stood exuded a noticeable feeling of isolation. It was another days travel south back to Talisman and another days journey north to the next settlement. Coupled with the dense trees surrounding its walls, Windy Tree just looked lonely.

As the two began to walk the last remaining distance into the town, Nadia again spoke. "Do you know where the town gets its name from?"

"I had heard that the winds in this area make interesting sounds. Something about the trees and how they react to the wind, especially in the dark. I can see why the sounds might be unique in this area, these trees seem different from other trees I've seen."

Clavidicus walked up to one of the trees along the road to investigate it closely. The tree was covered in dark colored bark and seemed to warp as it had grew. It closely resembled a wicked claw growing from the ground. These dark wood grew all around the road and town, which contributed to his earlier comment on his first impressions of the town from the hill.
What little light remained as the sun was setting cast twisted shadows upon the road.

While he was investigating the tree, the wind started to pick up for the first time since they entered the surrounding dark wood. It was gradual at first but increasing steadily with each gust. Moments later, they both heard the screaming noises as the wind howled through the trees.

Clavidicus looked back at Nadia as the screaming sounds began. "Alright I can see how that would be unnerving, especially if you couldn't see too far into the woods in the dark. It really does sound like people screaming."

"I don't know, I find it almost ...soothing...like the woods have something important to say and the wind helps to communicate the message."

Clavidicus shook his head at her. "You're an odd one."

As the two walked, the stone wall along the south edge of Windy Tree came into view. By now, the sun was completely gone and darkness held dominion over them. As they entered the town limits, Clavidicus felt a chill go up hisspine and couldn't shake the feeling of unseen eyes watching from the darkness. He couldn't shake the idea that the town itself was weary of their approach. "This place is weird. You willingly wanted to visit here?"

Nadia nodded enthusiastically. "Isn't it neat."

"Neat is not the first word that comes to mind" he responded.

As they walked towards the dimly lit couple of buildings ahead, they passed by an old cemetery filled with gravestones at varying stages of decay. An old iron gate hanging almost completely off its hinges marked the entrance into the boundaries of the graveyard. A low hanging mist seemed to cover most of the ground within the cemetery making it hard to see how far the graves extended. The fog continuously rolled outward from further within its walls spilling over into the rest of the town making visibility harder.

Nadia stared at the graveyard as they passed. Noticing her obvious interest in it, Clavidicus said "Don't even think about it, we should procure some lodgings for the night before we get into any kind of trouble."

"Fine!" she said as she moved her gaze back towards the buildings they were quickly approaching.

The only things that stood out among the cluster of buildings was a single ramshackle inn and a general store. The store seemed to have its windows and door barred up for the evening and no sign of lights within. The inn on the other hand looked almost inviting with its subdued lighting. As they stopped in front of the establishment, they surveyed their surroundings. A sign hanging near the entrance informed the two that this place was called The Wailing.

"You have to hand it to them" Nadia said, "its named appropriately."

"Yeah, I don't think I could live here. I'm not sure I could get used to the wailing noises from the trees or whatever might actually be causing them." Clavidicus then noticed the faint outline of a human hand sticking out of a pile of debris down the alleyway between the inn and another building. Clavidicus pointed down the alleyway. "Would you like to investigate what that's all about?"

"We wouldn't want a dead body to go to waste" she responded.

"What? ... What do you mean by that, go to waste?"

Nadia said "What?, nothing, I didn't say that, I meant shouldn't we try to investigate the situation in the event we need to provide some sort of assistance." She picked up a piece of wood lying on the ground just inside the alleyway and cast a simple light spell upon it. Her spell lit up the narrow space between the buildings pretty well, casting shadows all around.

The two of them proceeded down the alleyway cautiously approaching the pile of debris with the hand sticking out of it. As they got closer, it was apparent that the hand was attached to a young woman that was unceremoniously deposited there. Clavidicus bent over the woman and checked to see if she was dead. "She's still alive" he said as he propped her upright in a sitting position against the building. He removed a small potion vial from a pouch on his belt and poured the contents down the woman's throat.

After a few moments, the woman slowly opened her eyes. She looked around confused at Nadia and Clavidicus who were standing over her. She then spoke. "What happened?"

Nadia said "That's what we were going to ask you. Are you alright dear?"

The woman rubbed her neck. "I think so. I feel weak and weary. Everything aches actually."

"Do you remember what happened earlier?" Clavidicus asked her.

"I had just arrived in town earlier today and was heading to the inn when a gentleman beckoned me down this alleyway. I was curious and he was cute. The last thing I remember was that I was enjoying the company of this gentleman if you catch my drift and then I woke up with the two of you over me."

Nadia and Clavidicus helped her to her feet. Nadia laughed before saying "Sounds like you had a good time, maybe too good a time if you ache all over and feel exhausted. Actually if you aren't hurting afterwards, you're not getting into it enough.

Clavidicus commented "Yeah you're looking a little pale despite the healing potion I gave you. Perhaps you should accompany us to the inn where we can get you some food, drink, or rest."

"That's a great idea, I'm starving! By the way my name is Allium Canadense."

Nadia smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you Allium, my name is Nadia and this is Clavidicus the Bold. Now lets go see about getting some food and drink."

The three left the alleyway and headed towards the entrance to The Wailing.