Bren and Gone - The Baron & his Butler - 20/02/20

The world is grey; always had been; always would be. Punctured by moments of color that inevitably must end and return to their natural state. All as it should be. This he knew.


Baron Siegfried von Hagen strolls along the town walls unperturbed, smacking his lips appreciatively at the cup of freshly brewed tea that the Butler has handed him.

"A fine day Henry, a fine day!"

Henry nods.
"Yes, sir."

"I knew coming to this place would be a good idea. We made a good start yesterday, tracking down that lost orphan. Good deeds like that endear you to the common folk, and furthers the legend. I should know! They speak my name with reverence all along the Sword Coast! And soon, they shall do the same here as well. A good start this was, yes."

Henry does not fully understand the Baron's preoccupation with his fame and legend, but he does not need to know. He has his service to perform, and that is enough. If it makes the Baron happy, and the children and their caretakers in the orphanage, what more is there to know?

They had heard of a call for aid from the orphanage's master that one of his charges had gone missing, and the Baron had jumped at the opportunity to venture beyond the walls of Daring. The orphanage itself had been an edifice to chaos made manifest - children running this way and that, following no rules but their colorful whims. But while he disapproved of such disorderly conduct, he didn't mind; there would be time enough yet for these children to learn the blessing of self control.

Their visit to the orphanage had yielded them, and their party of adventurers, a clue in the form of a pictographic diary. The boy Bren had recently lost his home, so they had been told, and was likely to seek to return there. The ranger Elly and the rogue Cadfan seemed to recognise the depictions in the diary, surmised a potential fairy involvement and led them to the forest to the north, called "Angelbark" by the locals, and toward the ruins of the boy's erstwhile village. There they found a cave, just as in the drawings.

"Ah, but that was a good scrap we got in, didn't we? I knew I still had it in me! Those cave crabs fell before us like wheat before the scythe!"

Henry nodded.
"Well struck indeed, sir. Those monsters didn't stand a chance against you."

In truth, the Baron had done but little. The cave crabs had been an unpleasant surprise, one that necessitated Henry taking a more physical approach than he preferred, but the Baron had delighted in the encounter. While he may once have been an accomplished duelist, those times were long gone, and Henry worried that the Baron might overextend himself if he didn't shoulder this burden for him. He did not mind - his service encompassed duties of all shades.
But he had minded the boy-halfling Wellby being hurt. The wizard apprentice had tagged along, clearly too young for such an excursion, but it was not Henry's place to judge. Yet the sight of the young boy in danger had caused Henry some unexpected discomfort: he remembers the shock when the colors seeped into his well-ordered world unbidden, as he sprung at the vermin. Hazy hues of red, yellow and green clouded his mind, just as he was imposing order with his hands where words no longer served. When he regained his composure, the shattered crab shells and fresh stains on the cave walls had returned to a comforting grey. The colors are to be warded against. This he knew.

"I am glad we found that boy though. Returning him well and alive was good for the soul. Made me feel 20 years younger! All in two days good work."

"I am glad to hear it, sir."

They had found the boy in the cave, abducted by a small creature that called itself a Boggle. It clearly possessed a low form of cunning intelligence, but was not willing to see reason, or the boy returned gracefully. A further "robust" negotiation saw them taking the boy into their care and returning home. All was in order. As it should be.


The Baron turns his gaze westward, where in the distance the mountains known as the Sunset Spine can just about be seen.

"Ah, and yet so much still to see and discover here. Kundar! A city ruled by kobolds! Now I truly have heard everything. They will never believe this back home. Best we visit and bring back a souvenir to prove it, shall we?"

Henry follows the Baron's gaze to the west and nods.
"A souvenir. As you say, sir."