Post by Tom M on Sept 30, 2024 22:58:33 GMT
Co-written with ruthcd and Phil with input from willemf
Set shortly after the events of The Carousal Gambit
Dee’arna was ready to change up which tavern she uses, but having heard from Kem that the Three Headed Dragon was the only one available to him, she had raised an eyebrow, and booked the space.
She let Kem know the date and location, deciding they may as well meet in the morning to give them plenty of time to exchange information, and maybe invite some guests.
Kem rocks up a little after the arranged time, “What a sight for sore eyes. How was the party?”
He sits down as he adds “Sorry for the hassle with the venues. Mysterious chequered past and all that. You know how it is.”
Dee'arna smiles widely when she sees him, and she looks even a little relieved by his arrival.
"Sseems like your past is a bit inconvenient at times, but this will do. I just had a... frustrating conversation here recently so could have done with less of a reminder. The party was ... eventful. Certainly an interesting crowd, and room full of secrets. Some obtained, but plenty of curiosity left unsssatisfied sadly. And Zaspar. Made some choices. How have your days been since we met?"
“A room full of secrets I would love to hear. This Zaspar… the name rings a bell but we haven’t met. A friend of yours?”
"He was the host of the party. A young bard with a lot of money, and very little sense. Who may yet decide to listen to my advice. You'll be extremely interested when I tell you about his betrothed" and she says that word dripping with scorn "... but let's get there in a bit... Shouldn't stories start at the beginning?" She says with a playful grin.
Kem laughs and leans in across the table, “We wouldn’t want to skip the foreplay would we? You’re right. I can be patient too, go on.”
Dee’arna begins the tale of the ball recounting and noting things she thinks will be of interest to Kem, particularly the presence of Lady Kyra von Wald, and her avoiding Luca Di Floria thanks to his advice, knowing her curiosity could lead her to ask one too many questions.
“... and there was a wonderfully mysterious man who showed up in a mask… one of the only people I spoke to alone who I could really enjoy the moment with…”
She says, a little dreamily , but then she moves onto the important stuff.
“Here’s where it gets really interesssting. I spoke with a lady, Robin Merryfair who claimed to be a merchant but instead whispered threats to me, said there were people angry with me. I’m very confident now that she’s one of these Hekrati… having joined the dots of my various conversations. So I recently aided in ssurveillance mission of their sstoreshouse. Playing a minor role really. So surprising that got their notice. And I learnt a few days ago, she really doesn't like me.”
Dee'arna pauses.
"How am I doing at this storytelling business? Any questions before I go on? I am expecting sssomething good in return eventually."
Kem laughs and pumps his eyebrows at the mention of the mysterious masked man, but the levity drops just a touch at the mention of the Hekrati.
“Better than I do at the digging up relics business.” He winks, “I’d focus more on the masked man though. A walking mystery might be enough for you, but you’ve got to paint a picture with your words for the rest of us. That said, the Hekrati having a presence is a surprise. Not an unwelcome one. Good to know they can cut loose and have fun under the right circumstances. Sorry… go on.”
“And the third interessting person I spoke to is in fact the Seventh Watcher from the cult from my “passenger”… I had hoped that perhaps, seeing as the One and Many and I are calmly pursuing secrets together currently, she might want to extend some support. But she ominously spoke of watching me, of course. Disssappointing. And if you want colour to the story, she was the sexiest woman there, and had I believe red eyes, if I remember. Like me, she spent much of the night asking questions, but also had the sergent's eyes on her.
But I haven’t even told you about the actually delightful evening I had with the previous curse bearer, who was very generous with his knowledge… which meant I was able to identify this lady and learn about the Watchers. As you can sssee I’ve been busy.”
She says, with a touch of smugness.
“See you’re getting better already. Shame I wasn’t invited to be honest - that sounds like a fun party already, but you’re clearly not finished.”
Finally Dee’arna concludes the story by retelling Beets’ proposal and the somewhat awkward and unromantic end to an interesting evening. But then she moves on to saying,
“The story doesn’t finish there. Zaspar recently informed me that the next day he had proposed to Robin. And that she had spent their first date telling him that I am a dangerous person he should avoid... I made my feelings to him on this matter quite clear. As ssomeone who worships a god of patience, his impulsiveness... left me unimpressed. ”
Kem covers his mouth to stifle a laugh, “I’m sorry, if I’d been there and knew these people I’m sure I wouldn’t find it funny but the next day? Really? Ouch.”
He shakes his head, “I need to meet this Zaspar. And their fiancée who, by the way, sounds like a good judge of character. If I were hiding things I wouldn’t want you flicking that tongue around me either. Good thing I’m such an open book.”
"Yess. I mean the actually funny part is he suggested I join their romance!"
She grins in a way that shows all her sharp teeth,
"Given we've established I like a little mystery to chase... it would not be a compatible match"
“Can’t blame the guy for trying I guess.” Kem interjects as his eyes are captivated by her smile.
“So, you’re on the Hekrati list too now? They’ve stopped paying my tabs so I need to get back in touch.”
"As I sssuspected - you know more about them. Who exactly are these people? Why would they bother ssso much to try and ssscare me away? I'm simply an archaeologist, really."
And she lowers her voice, "Are they also... vampires?"
Kem waves the concern off, “I think so, but don’t let that put you off. They’re not all as bad as you think. I’ve seen vampire hunters do far more harm than I’ve ever seen a vampire do. In any case, they value their secrets and… so do you. Are you really surprised they see your… persistence,” he grins as he says the word, “as a threat?”
"Have you now? It sounds like this is an area of expertise for you? And why were they paying your tab?
And... if it's my curious nature they are worried about, then they seem like somewhat simple strategists. Because I wasn't interested before - I have my own studies, and this seemed like Pyrin's pursuit. But now, having really made such a moment about me with Zaspar? Well. I am taking notes."
And she gets out her notebook and pen deliberately.
"But I remain worried. I don't need to argue about people's nature, I want to know their ssspecific intentions - I have several sssets of strong people who are watching me, angry apparently."
Kem brushes off the questions, "What's interesting me is that one of them just accepted an offer of marriage right? You were there. Did you feel like you were in the presence of true love that night?"
Dee'arna goes to her notes on Robin. "Of course not. He spoke to her for all of ten minutes. I would have thought money is the main factor in acceptance. She claimed to be a kind of merchant - a good set up to siphon coin. She could just ask his family for investments and funnel it into financing... whatever it is they do."
And then she stops, snaps her notebook shut and looks directly at Kem.
"You know, on that mission at the Hekrati storehouse, I found an interesssting connection between you specifically, and the containers we were hunting down for Pyrin. But I didn't say a word, because I am not a snitch. So here I am, looking out for you and passing on all this valuable knowledge..."
She taps her closed notebook.
"...And now remembering that Pyrin told me it was these Hekrati who damaged his beak, surprising him in an alley at night. And maybe I should just go back to him to get my answers, seeing as you seem to be less shaken them. But you shared a warning about the other vampires to look out for me. I thought it meant we were... trusting. Maybe trustworthy. I am ready to help you out in return. So. You want to keep your full ssstory close to your chest...ssure... but do you want sssuffering for your friend or to help me ssstay sssafe? Tell me who are they?"
And in her increasing sibilance and her command at "tell me", there is that same familiar hunger for secrets Kem has heard before, perhaps pushing Dee'arna to push him. But there's also genuine worry and frustration, and tiredness.
Kem drops his cockiness for a minute. “Okay fine, you’ve earned a bit of trust.” He hesitates and has to psyche himself up before he continues, “I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a… source. The fact that my source has any idea who the Hekrati are means they aren’t some new cult of demon worshippers, they’re something old. Really old. Same goes for the Di Florias and the Von Walds.”
He leaves a long pause in the story as he drums his fingers on the table and considers saying more. Instead he turns his hand over, “And these things make everything even more complicated. There’s got to be a connection.”
“Thank you." She says emphatically.
"Demon-worshippers. Generically, or a particular demon they are fond of? And does your source tell you anything about their… likes and dislikes? Their interest in the Dawnlands? I don’t entirely see how they could be linked, but on the curses, I do come back to the fact that they were drawn here - even hiding in Sigil. And their cultists are here too. So maybe there is something important right here that is drawing these vampires as well… An answer to something.”
“Well that’s the thing. I know what they wanted last time I dealt with them and I know where there’s another one. If we get to it first maybe we can get some answers.” He sits back in his seat and rolls his eyes, “I was going to go alone, but maybe that wasn’t the best idea.”
"As I said with our temple exploration. Some challenges need a team. Someone has to check for traps."
“In this case I think we’d rather have someone who can swing a sword and not ask too many questions.” He smirks.
She just hisses at him in annoyance and rolls her eyes.
Kem grins broadly, “No need to get jealous - I just don’t expect that kind of danger this time and a bit of backup won’t hurt. I’ll put a team together and you can share me for a day in exchange for some of those answers you want.”
She grins at him, and does just a tiny flick of her tongue.
"Sssoo. A waiting game. Well, I don’t mind sharing so long as I get my own satisfaction at the end."
Kem leans across the table resting his chin on his hands, “Hey I don’t know how sound proof these walls are so you’re going to need to calm down. Especially now I know you like me enough to lie to Pyrin for me.” He winks.
"Oh, I didn't lie. I just kept my mouth shut. There's no need to lie if you don't draw any attention."
“One of many things I’d like you to teach me some day.” He closes his eyes and sighs gently before sitting back.
“Okay, before this goes any further we need to talk curses rather than vampires. You’ve met cultists, I’ve met cultists. Yours turn up to fancy parties, mine like killing people in tunnels.”
“Sounds like you have also done a little bit of work. As mentioned, I had a very rewarding evening with my curse’s previous owner who told me about the One and Many cult. But - I think it’s your turn to tell a story. Let’s hear about the rats.”
Kem kicks his feet up onto the table and relaxes into his element, “Well, this story starts with a homesick gnome just trying to get back to his people. Accompanying him, a cleric of Moradin powerful enough to challenge death itself, a corvid who isn’t a drain to be around, and of course,” he locks eyes with Dee’arna, “a mysterious and sexy Skaraga bard.”
“Digging into the cracks left by creating a monument to the act of creation itself, the group travelled the deadly warrens of the Underdark, the bard communed with the dead themselves to find a way forward, plucking this from the chest of his conversation partner.” Kem produces a stiletto blade of drow make and slides it across the table.
“No living gnomes were found, only the ruins left by a band of drow who left familiar symbols in their wake, but nothing breathing. These rat-masked cutthroats ambushed our heroes, but illusory magic and a silver tongue replaced a fight with an opportunity. They revealed themselves to be one of the warrens in service to the One who Gnaws. Their name: The Silent Claw. Their leader: Biter.”
The dagger used to have symbols of the spider goddess, Lolth, but they have been scratched out - implying a relatively recent change of allegiance.
“So while you attend fancy parties full of intrigue and receive offers of marriage it looks like I’m going to be digging around in holes in the ground as we each uncover more of what we have gotten ourselves into. The cards at least have a sense of humour.”
Dee’arna leans in and drinks up his tale, frowning every so often as she tries to decipher his phrases.
“Well… maybe if I am lucky I’ll find one of the other Watchers in a hole. But I hear your point. It does sound like an exciting adventure. And you can speak with the dead? A useful skill, a way to learn a great deal in my business.”
"Did The Silent Claw recognise you in some way? Do they see you as important, or more a mere vessel for the one they.... worship?"
“I wondered if they might, but it occurred to me in the moment that them finding out about the mark was as likely to make their leader as it was to make me a main course.” He looks back at the door to the rest of the tavern as his own hunger pangs kick in. “I convinced them that I was from another group like their own and on their side. Dropping in lines about acid and rust may have disturbed my companions, but put them at ease. Worth noting if you come across them in the future.”
“An insightful point. I have decided that silence on this matter to a trusted few is the wisest course from now on. I assume you haven’t told anyone else about me? But I do like the idea of using their poetry against them… clever tricks Kem. Mine are fond of gold and ink.”
She shifts a little uncomfortably, looking down, past her shiny gold snake necklace, at her hands. Kem can see that she’s now wearing leather fingerless gloves that cover up her palm, but don’t interfere with holding a fountain pen.
“Perhaps if I hadn’t been showing so much flesh at the ball, the Watcher wouldn’t have recognised me at all. Lesson learnt.”
“Well I think it’s important that you know you never need to worry about that sort of consideration around me.”
He pauses and thinks for a few moments, kicking his legs back off the table, “So these cults are the secret to understanding what we’re involved in, but yours are intelligent and careful whilst mine are actively murderous. Maybe neither of our marks is the first place we go here? Maybe one of the others has a cult of open and benign personalities who’ll just tell us what we need to know without any… unpleasantness?”
"An unlikely situation. But still, I now have the names of the others who are currently curse bearers, we can reach out to hear what they know. Oh, and the name of the previous rat bearer. Interestingly the ox, rat and crow all lived together and the walls of their reality did not crumble. But it seems we ah, bring the trouble out."
“I’m definitely getting that feeling. Any names I’d recognise?”
She counts them off on her fingers.
"Ronkk - I have met when I first arrived at an opportunity to find a mentor. Though I went with someone else, he was quite friendly. The Unchanged One or the ox is his.
Sterling, the One of the Woods. The wolf. And Yearu, the Bloody Handed One, of the boar. Neither of these I know."
“Two out of three then. Ronkk’s a name I haven’t heard since I first got here - would be nice to catch up. Yearu is… one of the more terrifying people I’ve met in this place.” Kem looks off into the distance distractedly for a second with a smile on his face, “Wouldn’t mind catching up with him either.”
"So he and his curse are a neat pair, with a name like that?"
"Perhaps, we don't start with violence... and I don't need you any more distracted."
“As much as I do love getting distracted, you’re right. The Unchanged One is more likely to fit what we’re looking for here.” Kem draws his dagger and spins it on the table, a finger on the ruby pommel. “Twenty-five words…”
Ronkk, wherever he is, hears Kem’s voice in his head, “Hi Ronkk; been a while. Come to the Three Headed Dragon. I buy you drinks and you tell me about that mark on your hand.”
He thinks for a second, “Probably should have said who it was. New spell. I’m sure it’ll be fine - I’m pretty memorable.”
Whilst they wait, Dee'arna goes up to the bar and orders a significant amount of food for Kem to keep them going. She also lets him read "the parable of the golden thief" from her notes with Yinmaris.
"You like stories, this one is... unsettling."
A voice replies to Kem's message, confused and concerned...
"Hello? ........God?"
Showing the parable to Kem, it sparks something in Dee'arna. The Parable is of the Watchers, that much is obvious. Revealing their methods, their purposes, but something stands out now that she places it in front of the rat's favourite. The opening section, before the thief is caught, talks of rats. The rats teach the thief, guide him, bring him to iron and brass and silver. They teach him how to be hungry, and they make him into the perfect thief. Something feels... familiar about this section of the story.
Kem is just about to settle in to read the notes as the answer comes in and he closes his eyes with a smile on his face.
Quickly glancing over at Dee’arna in the process of doing a genuinely nice gesture for him, the knowledge that she won’t approve gives him a brief tinge of guilt before he succumbs to temptation anyway and he fires off another Sending.
“Yes. It is I. Your god. Wear only your underwear. Also grab some of those muffins from the place down the street on your way.”
"I FUCKIN' knew it! Finally! I'm not far, be there in a bit."
Kem turns to Dee’arna as she returns, “He’s on his way. Also, how have you gotten this much so fast? You don’t mind if I make copies right?”
She pauses for a second.
"Hm. Jusst this page."
She watches him with her notebook very reluctantly.
"And I ask questions. And some people are kind enough to actually answer you know. I met a delightful and charming eladrin who had done plenty of research on the Watchers and we shared drinks and stories together."
The instinct to obfuscate with Minor Illusion as he looks through more of the notes creeps into Kem’s mind… and then passes as he makes eye contact with the person sat across from him. Someone he’s only had a few interactions with, but already grown to respect.
“Just this page. Got it.”
An hour or so later a scantily dressed Ronkk walks into the Three Headed Dragon carrying a basket.
He is looking around excitedly, scanning the room. Some of the other patrons are eyeing him with a bemused expression.
He's still wearing his breastplate armour, but his bottom half is noticably more... free.
Kem sees this and is hit with a rare case of regret as he turns to Dee’arna, “Yeah, that was a mistake. Nice guy, but he’s not the smartest.” With a sigh he raises his voice: “Hi Ronkk, want to strategically hold that basket and come join us in here before you draw too much attention?”
"Allo Kum! Err, not right now. I'm looking for someone else."
Ronkk continues to scan around eagerly.
“Your god left, you just missed them. Unlucky on that one mate. Now please, sit down behind this opaque table.” He gestures to the one they’re sat at, mostly covered in empty plates by this point.
"Fucks sake. I dun' even believe in one. But I wanted to meet 'em just in case."
Ronkk pulls back the cover of the basket and takes his trousers out of it.
"Probs just as well. The muffin place was closed, so I panicked and borrowed Mitten's basket."
Ronkk dresses his bottom half and sits down in a bit of a huff.
"Waste of my fuckin' time."
Ronkk completely misses the fact that Kem apparently knew omnisciently who he had come to meet.
Kem laughs disarmingly, “Hey now, this isn’t a waste of time, it’s an opportunity to catch up with an old friend. How are you doing? It’s been too long.”
"Yeah, 'spose.
Not bad. Bit tired these days, but nuffink I can't 'andle. Wot 'bou you?"
Ronkk looks noticably disappointed with the company.
“Tired?” Kem raises an eyebrow at Dee’arna, “Not getting enough sleep? Or is something else causing that?”
"Dunno Kum. Since I got this..."
Ronkk holds out his hand revealing his brand:
"... I've jus' bin feeling like all sluggish and stuff. But I likes it too. It's of my buddy Cowros. Know 'im?"
Kem smiles broadly, “Well that was refreshingly easy. I think I do know him: The Unchanged One right?”
"Well I meant Cowros actually... but this? No. Well... yeah. But like, I changed it's name.
It was the Unchangin' sumfin', but see NOW, the one in the middle is called Cowros...
Ronkk points to the one on the left.
"This one is called Left Cowros."
He points to the one on the right.
"...an' this is Left Cowros Two."
Ronkk looks very pleased with himself.
"Nah, but COWROS... big guy. Kinda mean. Basically my best buddy."
“Sounds like you two are very close, but I don’t recognise the name.” Kem shuffles his Tarokka deck on the table as he changes his approach, “I’m glad to see you again Ronkk. You always seemed to have the hand of destiny on your shoulder. Would you like to know more about that?”
"Nah mate. Dun' believe in any of that fate crap."
Ronkk thinks back to his last adventure with Artur and scowls.
"Fink I'll leave my destiny amphibious."
Kem turns to Dee’arna, a pleading look in his eyes
Ronnk notices Dee'arna for the first time and looks a little surprised.
"Shit. Allo Deanna! Din' see ya there. Oroit?"
Dee'arna has been quietly watching the whole interaction, smirking a bit and shaking her head at Kem when she realises the trick he has played. She seems fairly amused by the whole thing but relieved that Ronkk did in fact bring trousers.
"Hello Ronkk. You remember me? That's nice to hear. I am... doing alright. It's been an eventful few weeks since I arrived, although not anything as big as the wyrm we tackled together. Kem and I... are in sssimilar situations to you. And we'd love to learn more about your... cows? I presume you have a new fondness for a ssspecific metal and liquid too... ?"
Ronkk holds up a finger.
"AH AH AH! CowROS'ses."
Ronkk pauses.
"Wait.... Iron and pus........... ow'd you know that?"
"Pus? That... doesn't sound fun..."
Then she takes off her glove and shows him the crow symbol marked on her hand.
"Welcome to my circle of trust Ronkk. These little symbols, come with a sset of sayings. And usually, a voice in your head with opinions. My poem goes like this -
His name is the One and Many
His number is thirteen,
His beast is the crow
His liquid is ink and his metal is gold
His cults are the Thirteen Watchers,
He will rewrite the world anew, he is the changer and changed."
"Yeah, its not great t'be honest. I got a bit wounded in a migh'y battle a whiles ago, might've got a bit infected, and I cun' stop lickin' it till it was clean... got a few weird looks."
He looks a bit embarrassed.
"Circle of Trust eh? We's in like a band now?"
He thinks hard for a minute, before reciting:
" 'er name is the Unchangin' su'mit.
...'er number is three.
...'er beast is the ox.
...'er liquid is pus and her metal is iron.
...'er cults are the Three Convents.
...she will watch the world decay and smile, she is rot and stagnation in all its means."
Ronkk looks surprised that he remembered all this.
"Did err.... did I write you guys weird poems too?"
“Really? No chase? We just ask you straightforward questions and you’ll answer them?” Kem shakes his head and sighs with disappointment as he turns his hand over to reveal his palm. “We each have a poem associated with our mark:
Their name is the One Who Gnaws
Their number is nine, their beast is the rat, their liquid is acid and their metal is rust.
Their cults are the Nine Warrens, they will chew through the world and swallow it whole, they are hunger made manifest.”
"Why's I gotta chase you? I'm not feelin very fast at the mo."
He looks confused. There is a little pause, then Ronkk pulls a small crumpled note out of his pouch.
"But nah, I know we gots a poem... but did "I" write you both a poem too?"
Ronkk looks a little bashful and slightly concerned.
"What's on then note Ronkk? You have... more writings?
And no you didn't write these pieces... I think. They came with the voices I mentioned. They are all sentient curses. A family of them."
Ronkk hesitates a little. They slowly and reluctantly lowers the note on the table top, and attempts to flatten it out.
"So like... I din' write this. But... I also did. Like I din' do it, but it's in my writin'."
The two of you watch as Ronkk finishes uncrumpling the paper, and you can see a small handwritten note in scrawling, blotchy handwriting, like that of a child. It reads:
"Time, again, it comes for me
The waiting, baying ecstasy
Others, younger, burn in fire
Their hungers fuel their funeral pyres
Though I was not first, I will be last
They stride to death, I watch them pass"
Ronkk stares at the two of them, looking for a reaction, or any recognition they may know what this is/means.
Dee'arna looks at him with fascination and her first reaction is
"This one might actually try controlling its bearer - and that's new!"
Kem doesn’t match her enthusiasm - looking strangely concerned. “You wrote it, but have no memory of writing it. That sounds familiar.” He shakes his head, “When did this happen?”
"I dunno, a few weeks after Cowros'es appeared?"
"Sorry, it is obvioussly not fun to have ssuch a thing happen. I'm jusst trying to understand what they all are."
“And you didn’t provoke it? Didn’t do anything to change your relationship with it? It just happened over time?” Kem flips his cards nervously as he talks.
"Nope. Din' do nout. Just there it was in my pocket one day."
"I did have a bunch of eyes appear in my notes... but they didn't stay there."
"Real eyes?!"
"No, like drawn in ink."
Ronkk looks disappointed.
"Well. I want to be clear about the good news before we go any further- and the thing for all of us to keep in mind. This is a curse. It can be removed with a spell to do so. I spoke with someone recently who said that you don't have to die to do so. He was the previous wearer of the One and Many and he lost it without death. Staying with these... is a choice. At any moment either of you can let it go.
Of course... that doesn't change so much for the curses themselves. Their cults are here in the Dawnlands and their presence will... find another host most likely. But that doesn't have to be you."
Ronkk listens to this, and looks actually rather impressed.
"You bin busy since comin' here aintcha?"
She smiles back at him, and realises she's just given the 'one chance to back out before the job' speech.
"I'd say ssso.
And the curse found me, soon after I saw you. ... It pushes me to find out secrets, to seek out knowledge. Something, I've always had as a strength. Ssoo, I haven't stopped discovering things... and I still need to know more."
"At least I've managed a little archaeology already too!" She says brightly and gives a grateful nod to Kem.
“What can I say? I’m here for the stories. And perhaps for us spending more time in the dark together.” Kem smiles back as he perks up from an uncharacteristically introspective moment. “Three… Convents? You had any contact with them Ronkk?”
"Wot's one of them?"
“I’m… repeating the words you used. Do they mean anything to you at all? You haven’t spoken to anyone else who knows about your little herd?”
"Or met any holy people, intested in... rot and decay?"
Ronkk thinks.
"Dun fink so?"
Kem turns to Dee’arna, “Well, there goes my plan. For now at least.”
"Why? Wot was you plannin'?"
“I was hoping that if you’d been in touch with your cults they might be more talkative than hers and less murderous than mine. Give us an easier way forward in understanding all this. No luck it seems, but if that changes, you’ll let us know right?”
"Wait.... wot is you talkin' bout. You asked me loads of stuff bout my Cowros'ses... wot do you guys know bout wot these mean and stuff... and keep it short. I'm a busy man."
Ronkk continues to sit there.
Kem smiles and leans back in his seat, commanding his audience, “In that case Ronkk, let me tell you a story. Please, tell me if any part of it rings any bells for you:
Once upon a time there was a thief by the name of Marys. Born on the streets of Waterdeep he learnt quickly the ways of the street. He learnt the ways of the rats, learnt their tunnels and learnt their crafts. He fed himself with stolen food, and grew strong but lazy. He spent three years this way, until the rats whispered again. They told him of his plight, they listened to his hunger, they watched his iron begin to rust. Silver bought him freedom and the coppers in his beggar’s tin bought him steel. He thought himself complete, full, satisfied.
But there was one joy that had never graced his hand. He craved the purity of gold, its weight and lustre. He stole from the rich, and stole from the poor. He plundered all, but it was never complete. His iron was heavy and rusting, his silver overflowing and his brass complete, but gold is the metal that never rests. But gold is the metal that one day must end, and soon his time had come, and he was locked in chains of steel, his fate sealed in ink. For his crimes his finger was cut, lost. It festered, dripping with pus, his first finger lost. But gold cannot ever be full, and he soon stole again.
His second finger he dipped in acid, watched it melt like ink. The third grew rotten, poisoning his hand and the fourth bled forth torrents of blood. But gold cannot ever be full. He chased gold once more and once again his fate was sealed. He would forever remember the fifth finger, and it would always remember him. No longer with fingers the sixth crime was paid for with his hand, his control was sorely missed. His tongue came seventh and without it he became a shadow, unheard and disregarded.
Eighth and Ninth came the ears, together cut, together lost with his hearing. At ten they ripped his heart from his chest, and watched his body twitch and flail, unsure of what to do. But gold is never full. He stole again and again they sealed his fate in ink. At the eleventh day they took his eyes, and he became blind to what was to come. On the twelfth they hanged him, and he whispered secrets to the dead. But gold desires. In ink his fate was sealed, but there was no more of him to take, nothing remained save what was truly his.”
Ronkk listens to the entirety of this.
"........Kum. Firstly I said keep it short. Secondly, wot the fuck does any of that have to do wiv us having weird whispers in our 'eads, and marks on our skin?"
“You sing songs, I tell stories. And it’s the answer to your question if you add our intoxicating companion’s input. These marks are sentient curses, seemingly borne from the story of one individual or perhaps greater powers that already existed in the world that became bound to him. Now, seemingly able to travel anywhere in the multiverse, they chose to live in three people sat around the same table, at the same inn, on the same forgotten continent thousands of miles from their origin.”
Kem takes a drink from an opaque mug by way of a pause for effect, “You may not believe in destiny Ronkk; but I get the feeling it believes in you.”
"Also, Kem, this is actually apparently a fable about the One and Many Watchers, though I was keen to hear your interpretation too. They are all represented in the various punishments given out."
"Sorry, Ronkk. Not to make things too strange. So... how is all this sounding?"
“Really? It works narratively as an origin story for all of the curses though? But yeah, out of ten how overwhelmed are you feeling big guy?”
Ronkk pauses for a while.
"But I fink I get it. Rat boy made us all get cool brands because he was lazy?"
“Ronkk, you’re brilliant. Ssslicing through it all with inssight straight off the bat. It clearly pays to have bards on the team.”
She beams at him.
“Yes - you’re both right, surely. It is an origin story for the curses and it is about the Watchers.
Ronkk, so each one says it has a cult. And mine says ‘Thirteen Watchers’... we’ll put a pin in thirteen for a second... Now the ssstory with the rats first, and the firssst five fingers matches to the five curses - your pus on your finger, and your ox helps us get there.
But then what of the rest of the fingers? Thisss is where they match to the Watchers.
I have another piece of on that - a poem about them.”
She flicks through her notebook, scanning through her scribbles.
“So where in the story it says ‘His tongue came seventh’ in the poem it says ‘The seventh will keep the jealous quiet’.
…This is the one I saw… the Seventh Watcher... But we can also work in reverse - if it is about both all the curses, and all the Watchers. Then maybe the first five Watchers, are also responsible for sssurveying… the first five curses? Are they responsible for them... for you... in some way? They will know ssso many secrets. We ssshould sseek those ones out.”
She finishes, her dark eyes glimmering with excitement.
Kem wordlessly watches Dee’arna excitedly hypothesise as his mind travels back to her hissing at the mark on her hand, “But it better not get in my way!”
He smiles, drinking in the obsessive fervour for knowledge that others would absolutely recognise as a problem.
All Ronkk heard was "You're brilliant". He blushes at such a rare compliment.
Dee'arna sees her two friends smiling back at her, and takes this as a general assent to her line of reasoning.
"Before we take up that step though, is it time to invite the next guest to our curse convention? I believe Yearu was next on the list?"
“He was, but unless I get him here first time without any questions, I’m going to be magically tapped out for the day.”
"Well I wouldn't want to leave you feeling exhausted Kem... Another day... we will invite sssomeone else to join us."
And with a sly wink, she turns back to Ronkk
"So my suggestion is to look out for suspicious people, especially if linked to the number three, and the themes of your poetry. If you come across them, would you let me know? You could leave me a note, for Fort Ettin or here. Or I should revisit this space on most Sunedays... and see who shows?"
Ronkk takes all of this in.
"Yeah, oroit. I can probs do that... you expectin' me to run into some weird 3 people?"
"Going on our recent experiences... yess."
"To be honest Ronkk, if you find any weird people talking about numbers, liquids, and metals and it doesn't make sense just let us know. Okay? It's not like we won't want to hear about it if it's one of ours'. We'll do the same for you."
Kem rolls his eyes and smiles to himself, "Look at us being a functioning team."
"Righto"
"Well in that case Ronkk, good to see you again and sorry you didn't get to meet any deities." Kem says as he studies Ronkk's expression, giving him a final chance to catch the deception.
"That's OK. I'll keep on the lookout fer' weirdo baddies and a god."
Ronkk downs the remainder of a drink on the table, belches loudly and stands.
".........................bye."
He turns and leaves.
"Shit. Basket."
He turns back, returns to pick it up and then leaves again.
"Have a safe journey back my friend. There are a lot of strange people walking this city at night lately." Kem says, with sincerity, as he looks Ronkk in the eye before he leaves.
As the goliath exits, Kem's foot brushes against Dee'arna's under the table, "That's why I'll be getting a double bed here anyway. To stay safe."
Dee'arna's little smirk is back.
"Such a wise choice. With the Hekrati as enemies, I could also do with someone watching my back... at night... are you suggesting you are up for the task?"
He leans in, reaching out to run his fingers through her hair - being careful not to let the mark touch her skin, “Hard to say, but just to be sure we need to keep each other awake all night.”
"And here I thought you were just saying you were worried about being tapped out early... "
She glances at his hand and back at her own, and down at her body.
"Well... I'd prefer it if our other guests sstay out of this business. How good are you at waiting? There's a ritual I need to finish first."
“For you I can be… patient.” He whispers the last word into her ear.
Her reaction to this is definitely... sparks in her eyes, and a little caught breath. She gives him a wicked grin with her teeth showing, and then turns and walks away... to find him again later.
Set shortly after the events of The Carousal Gambit
Dee’arna was ready to change up which tavern she uses, but having heard from Kem that the Three Headed Dragon was the only one available to him, she had raised an eyebrow, and booked the space.
She let Kem know the date and location, deciding they may as well meet in the morning to give them plenty of time to exchange information, and maybe invite some guests.
Kem rocks up a little after the arranged time, “What a sight for sore eyes. How was the party?”
He sits down as he adds “Sorry for the hassle with the venues. Mysterious chequered past and all that. You know how it is.”
Dee'arna smiles widely when she sees him, and she looks even a little relieved by his arrival.
"Sseems like your past is a bit inconvenient at times, but this will do. I just had a... frustrating conversation here recently so could have done with less of a reminder. The party was ... eventful. Certainly an interesting crowd, and room full of secrets. Some obtained, but plenty of curiosity left unsssatisfied sadly. And Zaspar. Made some choices. How have your days been since we met?"
“A room full of secrets I would love to hear. This Zaspar… the name rings a bell but we haven’t met. A friend of yours?”
"He was the host of the party. A young bard with a lot of money, and very little sense. Who may yet decide to listen to my advice. You'll be extremely interested when I tell you about his betrothed" and she says that word dripping with scorn "... but let's get there in a bit... Shouldn't stories start at the beginning?" She says with a playful grin.
Kem laughs and leans in across the table, “We wouldn’t want to skip the foreplay would we? You’re right. I can be patient too, go on.”
Dee’arna begins the tale of the ball recounting and noting things she thinks will be of interest to Kem, particularly the presence of Lady Kyra von Wald, and her avoiding Luca Di Floria thanks to his advice, knowing her curiosity could lead her to ask one too many questions.
“... and there was a wonderfully mysterious man who showed up in a mask… one of the only people I spoke to alone who I could really enjoy the moment with…”
She says, a little dreamily , but then she moves onto the important stuff.
“Here’s where it gets really interesssting. I spoke with a lady, Robin Merryfair who claimed to be a merchant but instead whispered threats to me, said there were people angry with me. I’m very confident now that she’s one of these Hekrati… having joined the dots of my various conversations. So I recently aided in ssurveillance mission of their sstoreshouse. Playing a minor role really. So surprising that got their notice. And I learnt a few days ago, she really doesn't like me.”
Dee'arna pauses.
"How am I doing at this storytelling business? Any questions before I go on? I am expecting sssomething good in return eventually."
Kem laughs and pumps his eyebrows at the mention of the mysterious masked man, but the levity drops just a touch at the mention of the Hekrati.
“Better than I do at the digging up relics business.” He winks, “I’d focus more on the masked man though. A walking mystery might be enough for you, but you’ve got to paint a picture with your words for the rest of us. That said, the Hekrati having a presence is a surprise. Not an unwelcome one. Good to know they can cut loose and have fun under the right circumstances. Sorry… go on.”
“And the third interessting person I spoke to is in fact the Seventh Watcher from the cult from my “passenger”… I had hoped that perhaps, seeing as the One and Many and I are calmly pursuing secrets together currently, she might want to extend some support. But she ominously spoke of watching me, of course. Disssappointing. And if you want colour to the story, she was the sexiest woman there, and had I believe red eyes, if I remember. Like me, she spent much of the night asking questions, but also had the sergent's eyes on her.
But I haven’t even told you about the actually delightful evening I had with the previous curse bearer, who was very generous with his knowledge… which meant I was able to identify this lady and learn about the Watchers. As you can sssee I’ve been busy.”
She says, with a touch of smugness.
“See you’re getting better already. Shame I wasn’t invited to be honest - that sounds like a fun party already, but you’re clearly not finished.”
Finally Dee’arna concludes the story by retelling Beets’ proposal and the somewhat awkward and unromantic end to an interesting evening. But then she moves on to saying,
“The story doesn’t finish there. Zaspar recently informed me that the next day he had proposed to Robin. And that she had spent their first date telling him that I am a dangerous person he should avoid... I made my feelings to him on this matter quite clear. As ssomeone who worships a god of patience, his impulsiveness... left me unimpressed. ”
Kem covers his mouth to stifle a laugh, “I’m sorry, if I’d been there and knew these people I’m sure I wouldn’t find it funny but the next day? Really? Ouch.”
He shakes his head, “I need to meet this Zaspar. And their fiancée who, by the way, sounds like a good judge of character. If I were hiding things I wouldn’t want you flicking that tongue around me either. Good thing I’m such an open book.”
"Yess. I mean the actually funny part is he suggested I join their romance!"
She grins in a way that shows all her sharp teeth,
"Given we've established I like a little mystery to chase... it would not be a compatible match"
“Can’t blame the guy for trying I guess.” Kem interjects as his eyes are captivated by her smile.
“So, you’re on the Hekrati list too now? They’ve stopped paying my tabs so I need to get back in touch.”
"As I sssuspected - you know more about them. Who exactly are these people? Why would they bother ssso much to try and ssscare me away? I'm simply an archaeologist, really."
And she lowers her voice, "Are they also... vampires?"
Kem waves the concern off, “I think so, but don’t let that put you off. They’re not all as bad as you think. I’ve seen vampire hunters do far more harm than I’ve ever seen a vampire do. In any case, they value their secrets and… so do you. Are you really surprised they see your… persistence,” he grins as he says the word, “as a threat?”
"Have you now? It sounds like this is an area of expertise for you? And why were they paying your tab?
And... if it's my curious nature they are worried about, then they seem like somewhat simple strategists. Because I wasn't interested before - I have my own studies, and this seemed like Pyrin's pursuit. But now, having really made such a moment about me with Zaspar? Well. I am taking notes."
And she gets out her notebook and pen deliberately.
"But I remain worried. I don't need to argue about people's nature, I want to know their ssspecific intentions - I have several sssets of strong people who are watching me, angry apparently."
Kem brushes off the questions, "What's interesting me is that one of them just accepted an offer of marriage right? You were there. Did you feel like you were in the presence of true love that night?"
Dee'arna goes to her notes on Robin. "Of course not. He spoke to her for all of ten minutes. I would have thought money is the main factor in acceptance. She claimed to be a kind of merchant - a good set up to siphon coin. She could just ask his family for investments and funnel it into financing... whatever it is they do."
And then she stops, snaps her notebook shut and looks directly at Kem.
"You know, on that mission at the Hekrati storehouse, I found an interesssting connection between you specifically, and the containers we were hunting down for Pyrin. But I didn't say a word, because I am not a snitch. So here I am, looking out for you and passing on all this valuable knowledge..."
She taps her closed notebook.
"...And now remembering that Pyrin told me it was these Hekrati who damaged his beak, surprising him in an alley at night. And maybe I should just go back to him to get my answers, seeing as you seem to be less shaken them. But you shared a warning about the other vampires to look out for me. I thought it meant we were... trusting. Maybe trustworthy. I am ready to help you out in return. So. You want to keep your full ssstory close to your chest...ssure... but do you want sssuffering for your friend or to help me ssstay sssafe? Tell me who are they?"
And in her increasing sibilance and her command at "tell me", there is that same familiar hunger for secrets Kem has heard before, perhaps pushing Dee'arna to push him. But there's also genuine worry and frustration, and tiredness.
Kem drops his cockiness for a minute. “Okay fine, you’ve earned a bit of trust.” He hesitates and has to psyche himself up before he continues, “I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a… source. The fact that my source has any idea who the Hekrati are means they aren’t some new cult of demon worshippers, they’re something old. Really old. Same goes for the Di Florias and the Von Walds.”
He leaves a long pause in the story as he drums his fingers on the table and considers saying more. Instead he turns his hand over, “And these things make everything even more complicated. There’s got to be a connection.”
“Thank you." She says emphatically.
"Demon-worshippers. Generically, or a particular demon they are fond of? And does your source tell you anything about their… likes and dislikes? Their interest in the Dawnlands? I don’t entirely see how they could be linked, but on the curses, I do come back to the fact that they were drawn here - even hiding in Sigil. And their cultists are here too. So maybe there is something important right here that is drawing these vampires as well… An answer to something.”
“Well that’s the thing. I know what they wanted last time I dealt with them and I know where there’s another one. If we get to it first maybe we can get some answers.” He sits back in his seat and rolls his eyes, “I was going to go alone, but maybe that wasn’t the best idea.”
"As I said with our temple exploration. Some challenges need a team. Someone has to check for traps."
“In this case I think we’d rather have someone who can swing a sword and not ask too many questions.” He smirks.
She just hisses at him in annoyance and rolls her eyes.
Kem grins broadly, “No need to get jealous - I just don’t expect that kind of danger this time and a bit of backup won’t hurt. I’ll put a team together and you can share me for a day in exchange for some of those answers you want.”
She grins at him, and does just a tiny flick of her tongue.
"Sssoo. A waiting game. Well, I don’t mind sharing so long as I get my own satisfaction at the end."
Kem leans across the table resting his chin on his hands, “Hey I don’t know how sound proof these walls are so you’re going to need to calm down. Especially now I know you like me enough to lie to Pyrin for me.” He winks.
"Oh, I didn't lie. I just kept my mouth shut. There's no need to lie if you don't draw any attention."
“One of many things I’d like you to teach me some day.” He closes his eyes and sighs gently before sitting back.
“Okay, before this goes any further we need to talk curses rather than vampires. You’ve met cultists, I’ve met cultists. Yours turn up to fancy parties, mine like killing people in tunnels.”
“Sounds like you have also done a little bit of work. As mentioned, I had a very rewarding evening with my curse’s previous owner who told me about the One and Many cult. But - I think it’s your turn to tell a story. Let’s hear about the rats.”
Kem kicks his feet up onto the table and relaxes into his element, “Well, this story starts with a homesick gnome just trying to get back to his people. Accompanying him, a cleric of Moradin powerful enough to challenge death itself, a corvid who isn’t a drain to be around, and of course,” he locks eyes with Dee’arna, “a mysterious and sexy Skaraga bard.”
“Digging into the cracks left by creating a monument to the act of creation itself, the group travelled the deadly warrens of the Underdark, the bard communed with the dead themselves to find a way forward, plucking this from the chest of his conversation partner.” Kem produces a stiletto blade of drow make and slides it across the table.
“No living gnomes were found, only the ruins left by a band of drow who left familiar symbols in their wake, but nothing breathing. These rat-masked cutthroats ambushed our heroes, but illusory magic and a silver tongue replaced a fight with an opportunity. They revealed themselves to be one of the warrens in service to the One who Gnaws. Their name: The Silent Claw. Their leader: Biter.”
The dagger used to have symbols of the spider goddess, Lolth, but they have been scratched out - implying a relatively recent change of allegiance.
“So while you attend fancy parties full of intrigue and receive offers of marriage it looks like I’m going to be digging around in holes in the ground as we each uncover more of what we have gotten ourselves into. The cards at least have a sense of humour.”
Dee’arna leans in and drinks up his tale, frowning every so often as she tries to decipher his phrases.
“Well… maybe if I am lucky I’ll find one of the other Watchers in a hole. But I hear your point. It does sound like an exciting adventure. And you can speak with the dead? A useful skill, a way to learn a great deal in my business.”
"Did The Silent Claw recognise you in some way? Do they see you as important, or more a mere vessel for the one they.... worship?"
“I wondered if they might, but it occurred to me in the moment that them finding out about the mark was as likely to make their leader as it was to make me a main course.” He looks back at the door to the rest of the tavern as his own hunger pangs kick in. “I convinced them that I was from another group like their own and on their side. Dropping in lines about acid and rust may have disturbed my companions, but put them at ease. Worth noting if you come across them in the future.”
“An insightful point. I have decided that silence on this matter to a trusted few is the wisest course from now on. I assume you haven’t told anyone else about me? But I do like the idea of using their poetry against them… clever tricks Kem. Mine are fond of gold and ink.”
She shifts a little uncomfortably, looking down, past her shiny gold snake necklace, at her hands. Kem can see that she’s now wearing leather fingerless gloves that cover up her palm, but don’t interfere with holding a fountain pen.
“Perhaps if I hadn’t been showing so much flesh at the ball, the Watcher wouldn’t have recognised me at all. Lesson learnt.”
“Well I think it’s important that you know you never need to worry about that sort of consideration around me.”
He pauses and thinks for a few moments, kicking his legs back off the table, “So these cults are the secret to understanding what we’re involved in, but yours are intelligent and careful whilst mine are actively murderous. Maybe neither of our marks is the first place we go here? Maybe one of the others has a cult of open and benign personalities who’ll just tell us what we need to know without any… unpleasantness?”
"An unlikely situation. But still, I now have the names of the others who are currently curse bearers, we can reach out to hear what they know. Oh, and the name of the previous rat bearer. Interestingly the ox, rat and crow all lived together and the walls of their reality did not crumble. But it seems we ah, bring the trouble out."
“I’m definitely getting that feeling. Any names I’d recognise?”
She counts them off on her fingers.
"Ronkk - I have met when I first arrived at an opportunity to find a mentor. Though I went with someone else, he was quite friendly. The Unchanged One or the ox is his.
Sterling, the One of the Woods. The wolf. And Yearu, the Bloody Handed One, of the boar. Neither of these I know."
“Two out of three then. Ronkk’s a name I haven’t heard since I first got here - would be nice to catch up. Yearu is… one of the more terrifying people I’ve met in this place.” Kem looks off into the distance distractedly for a second with a smile on his face, “Wouldn’t mind catching up with him either.”
"So he and his curse are a neat pair, with a name like that?"
"Perhaps, we don't start with violence... and I don't need you any more distracted."
“As much as I do love getting distracted, you’re right. The Unchanged One is more likely to fit what we’re looking for here.” Kem draws his dagger and spins it on the table, a finger on the ruby pommel. “Twenty-five words…”
Ronkk, wherever he is, hears Kem’s voice in his head, “Hi Ronkk; been a while. Come to the Three Headed Dragon. I buy you drinks and you tell me about that mark on your hand.”
He thinks for a second, “Probably should have said who it was. New spell. I’m sure it’ll be fine - I’m pretty memorable.”
Whilst they wait, Dee'arna goes up to the bar and orders a significant amount of food for Kem to keep them going. She also lets him read "the parable of the golden thief" from her notes with Yinmaris.
"You like stories, this one is... unsettling."
A voice replies to Kem's message, confused and concerned...
"Hello? ........God?"
Showing the parable to Kem, it sparks something in Dee'arna. The Parable is of the Watchers, that much is obvious. Revealing their methods, their purposes, but something stands out now that she places it in front of the rat's favourite. The opening section, before the thief is caught, talks of rats. The rats teach the thief, guide him, bring him to iron and brass and silver. They teach him how to be hungry, and they make him into the perfect thief. Something feels... familiar about this section of the story.
Kem is just about to settle in to read the notes as the answer comes in and he closes his eyes with a smile on his face.
Quickly glancing over at Dee’arna in the process of doing a genuinely nice gesture for him, the knowledge that she won’t approve gives him a brief tinge of guilt before he succumbs to temptation anyway and he fires off another Sending.
“Yes. It is I. Your god. Wear only your underwear. Also grab some of those muffins from the place down the street on your way.”
"I FUCKIN' knew it! Finally! I'm not far, be there in a bit."
Kem turns to Dee’arna as she returns, “He’s on his way. Also, how have you gotten this much so fast? You don’t mind if I make copies right?”
She pauses for a second.
"Hm. Jusst this page."
She watches him with her notebook very reluctantly.
"And I ask questions. And some people are kind enough to actually answer you know. I met a delightful and charming eladrin who had done plenty of research on the Watchers and we shared drinks and stories together."
The instinct to obfuscate with Minor Illusion as he looks through more of the notes creeps into Kem’s mind… and then passes as he makes eye contact with the person sat across from him. Someone he’s only had a few interactions with, but already grown to respect.
“Just this page. Got it.”
An hour or so later a scantily dressed Ronkk walks into the Three Headed Dragon carrying a basket.
He is looking around excitedly, scanning the room. Some of the other patrons are eyeing him with a bemused expression.
He's still wearing his breastplate armour, but his bottom half is noticably more... free.
Kem sees this and is hit with a rare case of regret as he turns to Dee’arna, “Yeah, that was a mistake. Nice guy, but he’s not the smartest.” With a sigh he raises his voice: “Hi Ronkk, want to strategically hold that basket and come join us in here before you draw too much attention?”
"Allo Kum! Err, not right now. I'm looking for someone else."
Ronkk continues to scan around eagerly.
“Your god left, you just missed them. Unlucky on that one mate. Now please, sit down behind this opaque table.” He gestures to the one they’re sat at, mostly covered in empty plates by this point.
"Fucks sake. I dun' even believe in one. But I wanted to meet 'em just in case."
Ronkk pulls back the cover of the basket and takes his trousers out of it.
"Probs just as well. The muffin place was closed, so I panicked and borrowed Mitten's basket."
Ronkk dresses his bottom half and sits down in a bit of a huff.
"Waste of my fuckin' time."
Ronkk completely misses the fact that Kem apparently knew omnisciently who he had come to meet.
Kem laughs disarmingly, “Hey now, this isn’t a waste of time, it’s an opportunity to catch up with an old friend. How are you doing? It’s been too long.”
"Yeah, 'spose.
Not bad. Bit tired these days, but nuffink I can't 'andle. Wot 'bou you?"
Ronkk looks noticably disappointed with the company.
“Tired?” Kem raises an eyebrow at Dee’arna, “Not getting enough sleep? Or is something else causing that?”
"Dunno Kum. Since I got this..."
Ronkk holds out his hand revealing his brand:
"... I've jus' bin feeling like all sluggish and stuff. But I likes it too. It's of my buddy Cowros. Know 'im?"
Kem smiles broadly, “Well that was refreshingly easy. I think I do know him: The Unchanged One right?”
"Well I meant Cowros actually... but this? No. Well... yeah. But like, I changed it's name.
It was the Unchangin' sumfin', but see NOW, the one in the middle is called Cowros...
Ronkk points to the one on the left.
"This one is called Left Cowros."
He points to the one on the right.
"...an' this is Left Cowros Two."
Ronkk looks very pleased with himself.
"Nah, but COWROS... big guy. Kinda mean. Basically my best buddy."
“Sounds like you two are very close, but I don’t recognise the name.” Kem shuffles his Tarokka deck on the table as he changes his approach, “I’m glad to see you again Ronkk. You always seemed to have the hand of destiny on your shoulder. Would you like to know more about that?”
"Nah mate. Dun' believe in any of that fate crap."
Ronkk thinks back to his last adventure with Artur and scowls.
"Fink I'll leave my destiny amphibious."
Kem turns to Dee’arna, a pleading look in his eyes
Ronnk notices Dee'arna for the first time and looks a little surprised.
"Shit. Allo Deanna! Din' see ya there. Oroit?"
Dee'arna has been quietly watching the whole interaction, smirking a bit and shaking her head at Kem when she realises the trick he has played. She seems fairly amused by the whole thing but relieved that Ronkk did in fact bring trousers.
"Hello Ronkk. You remember me? That's nice to hear. I am... doing alright. It's been an eventful few weeks since I arrived, although not anything as big as the wyrm we tackled together. Kem and I... are in sssimilar situations to you. And we'd love to learn more about your... cows? I presume you have a new fondness for a ssspecific metal and liquid too... ?"
Ronkk holds up a finger.
"AH AH AH! CowROS'ses."
Ronkk pauses.
"Wait.... Iron and pus........... ow'd you know that?"
"Pus? That... doesn't sound fun..."
Then she takes off her glove and shows him the crow symbol marked on her hand.
"Welcome to my circle of trust Ronkk. These little symbols, come with a sset of sayings. And usually, a voice in your head with opinions. My poem goes like this -
His name is the One and Many
His number is thirteen,
His beast is the crow
His liquid is ink and his metal is gold
His cults are the Thirteen Watchers,
He will rewrite the world anew, he is the changer and changed."
"Yeah, its not great t'be honest. I got a bit wounded in a migh'y battle a whiles ago, might've got a bit infected, and I cun' stop lickin' it till it was clean... got a few weird looks."
He looks a bit embarrassed.
"Circle of Trust eh? We's in like a band now?"
He thinks hard for a minute, before reciting:
" 'er name is the Unchangin' su'mit.
...'er number is three.
...'er beast is the ox.
...'er liquid is pus and her metal is iron.
...'er cults are the Three Convents.
...she will watch the world decay and smile, she is rot and stagnation in all its means."
Ronkk looks surprised that he remembered all this.
"Did err.... did I write you guys weird poems too?"
“Really? No chase? We just ask you straightforward questions and you’ll answer them?” Kem shakes his head and sighs with disappointment as he turns his hand over to reveal his palm. “We each have a poem associated with our mark:
Their name is the One Who Gnaws
Their number is nine, their beast is the rat, their liquid is acid and their metal is rust.
Their cults are the Nine Warrens, they will chew through the world and swallow it whole, they are hunger made manifest.”
"Why's I gotta chase you? I'm not feelin very fast at the mo."
He looks confused. There is a little pause, then Ronkk pulls a small crumpled note out of his pouch.
"But nah, I know we gots a poem... but did "I" write you both a poem too?"
Ronkk looks a little bashful and slightly concerned.
"What's on then note Ronkk? You have... more writings?
And no you didn't write these pieces... I think. They came with the voices I mentioned. They are all sentient curses. A family of them."
Ronkk hesitates a little. They slowly and reluctantly lowers the note on the table top, and attempts to flatten it out.
"So like... I din' write this. But... I also did. Like I din' do it, but it's in my writin'."
The two of you watch as Ronkk finishes uncrumpling the paper, and you can see a small handwritten note in scrawling, blotchy handwriting, like that of a child. It reads:
"Time, again, it comes for me
The waiting, baying ecstasy
Others, younger, burn in fire
Their hungers fuel their funeral pyres
Though I was not first, I will be last
They stride to death, I watch them pass"
Ronkk stares at the two of them, looking for a reaction, or any recognition they may know what this is/means.
Dee'arna looks at him with fascination and her first reaction is
"This one might actually try controlling its bearer - and that's new!"
Kem doesn’t match her enthusiasm - looking strangely concerned. “You wrote it, but have no memory of writing it. That sounds familiar.” He shakes his head, “When did this happen?”
"I dunno, a few weeks after Cowros'es appeared?"
"Sorry, it is obvioussly not fun to have ssuch a thing happen. I'm jusst trying to understand what they all are."
“And you didn’t provoke it? Didn’t do anything to change your relationship with it? It just happened over time?” Kem flips his cards nervously as he talks.
"Nope. Din' do nout. Just there it was in my pocket one day."
"I did have a bunch of eyes appear in my notes... but they didn't stay there."
"Real eyes?!"
"No, like drawn in ink."
Ronkk looks disappointed.
"Well. I want to be clear about the good news before we go any further- and the thing for all of us to keep in mind. This is a curse. It can be removed with a spell to do so. I spoke with someone recently who said that you don't have to die to do so. He was the previous wearer of the One and Many and he lost it without death. Staying with these... is a choice. At any moment either of you can let it go.
Of course... that doesn't change so much for the curses themselves. Their cults are here in the Dawnlands and their presence will... find another host most likely. But that doesn't have to be you."
Ronkk listens to this, and looks actually rather impressed.
"You bin busy since comin' here aintcha?"
She smiles back at him, and realises she's just given the 'one chance to back out before the job' speech.
"I'd say ssso.
And the curse found me, soon after I saw you. ... It pushes me to find out secrets, to seek out knowledge. Something, I've always had as a strength. Ssoo, I haven't stopped discovering things... and I still need to know more."
"At least I've managed a little archaeology already too!" She says brightly and gives a grateful nod to Kem.
“What can I say? I’m here for the stories. And perhaps for us spending more time in the dark together.” Kem smiles back as he perks up from an uncharacteristically introspective moment. “Three… Convents? You had any contact with them Ronkk?”
"Wot's one of them?"
“I’m… repeating the words you used. Do they mean anything to you at all? You haven’t spoken to anyone else who knows about your little herd?”
"Or met any holy people, intested in... rot and decay?"
Ronkk thinks.
"Dun fink so?"
Kem turns to Dee’arna, “Well, there goes my plan. For now at least.”
"Why? Wot was you plannin'?"
“I was hoping that if you’d been in touch with your cults they might be more talkative than hers and less murderous than mine. Give us an easier way forward in understanding all this. No luck it seems, but if that changes, you’ll let us know right?”
"Wait.... wot is you talkin' bout. You asked me loads of stuff bout my Cowros'ses... wot do you guys know bout wot these mean and stuff... and keep it short. I'm a busy man."
Ronkk continues to sit there.
Kem smiles and leans back in his seat, commanding his audience, “In that case Ronkk, let me tell you a story. Please, tell me if any part of it rings any bells for you:
Once upon a time there was a thief by the name of Marys. Born on the streets of Waterdeep he learnt quickly the ways of the street. He learnt the ways of the rats, learnt their tunnels and learnt their crafts. He fed himself with stolen food, and grew strong but lazy. He spent three years this way, until the rats whispered again. They told him of his plight, they listened to his hunger, they watched his iron begin to rust. Silver bought him freedom and the coppers in his beggar’s tin bought him steel. He thought himself complete, full, satisfied.
But there was one joy that had never graced his hand. He craved the purity of gold, its weight and lustre. He stole from the rich, and stole from the poor. He plundered all, but it was never complete. His iron was heavy and rusting, his silver overflowing and his brass complete, but gold is the metal that never rests. But gold is the metal that one day must end, and soon his time had come, and he was locked in chains of steel, his fate sealed in ink. For his crimes his finger was cut, lost. It festered, dripping with pus, his first finger lost. But gold cannot ever be full, and he soon stole again.
His second finger he dipped in acid, watched it melt like ink. The third grew rotten, poisoning his hand and the fourth bled forth torrents of blood. But gold cannot ever be full. He chased gold once more and once again his fate was sealed. He would forever remember the fifth finger, and it would always remember him. No longer with fingers the sixth crime was paid for with his hand, his control was sorely missed. His tongue came seventh and without it he became a shadow, unheard and disregarded.
Eighth and Ninth came the ears, together cut, together lost with his hearing. At ten they ripped his heart from his chest, and watched his body twitch and flail, unsure of what to do. But gold is never full. He stole again and again they sealed his fate in ink. At the eleventh day they took his eyes, and he became blind to what was to come. On the twelfth they hanged him, and he whispered secrets to the dead. But gold desires. In ink his fate was sealed, but there was no more of him to take, nothing remained save what was truly his.”
Ronkk listens to the entirety of this.
"........Kum. Firstly I said keep it short. Secondly, wot the fuck does any of that have to do wiv us having weird whispers in our 'eads, and marks on our skin?"
“You sing songs, I tell stories. And it’s the answer to your question if you add our intoxicating companion’s input. These marks are sentient curses, seemingly borne from the story of one individual or perhaps greater powers that already existed in the world that became bound to him. Now, seemingly able to travel anywhere in the multiverse, they chose to live in three people sat around the same table, at the same inn, on the same forgotten continent thousands of miles from their origin.”
Kem takes a drink from an opaque mug by way of a pause for effect, “You may not believe in destiny Ronkk; but I get the feeling it believes in you.”
"Also, Kem, this is actually apparently a fable about the One and Many Watchers, though I was keen to hear your interpretation too. They are all represented in the various punishments given out."
"Sorry, Ronkk. Not to make things too strange. So... how is all this sounding?"
“Really? It works narratively as an origin story for all of the curses though? But yeah, out of ten how overwhelmed are you feeling big guy?”
Ronkk pauses for a while.
"But I fink I get it. Rat boy made us all get cool brands because he was lazy?"
“Ronkk, you’re brilliant. Ssslicing through it all with inssight straight off the bat. It clearly pays to have bards on the team.”
She beams at him.
“Yes - you’re both right, surely. It is an origin story for the curses and it is about the Watchers.
Ronkk, so each one says it has a cult. And mine says ‘Thirteen Watchers’... we’ll put a pin in thirteen for a second... Now the ssstory with the rats first, and the firssst five fingers matches to the five curses - your pus on your finger, and your ox helps us get there.
But then what of the rest of the fingers? Thisss is where they match to the Watchers.
I have another piece of on that - a poem about them.”
She flicks through her notebook, scanning through her scribbles.
“So where in the story it says ‘His tongue came seventh’ in the poem it says ‘The seventh will keep the jealous quiet’.
…This is the one I saw… the Seventh Watcher... But we can also work in reverse - if it is about both all the curses, and all the Watchers. Then maybe the first five Watchers, are also responsible for sssurveying… the first five curses? Are they responsible for them... for you... in some way? They will know ssso many secrets. We ssshould sseek those ones out.”
She finishes, her dark eyes glimmering with excitement.
Kem wordlessly watches Dee’arna excitedly hypothesise as his mind travels back to her hissing at the mark on her hand, “But it better not get in my way!”
He smiles, drinking in the obsessive fervour for knowledge that others would absolutely recognise as a problem.
All Ronkk heard was "You're brilliant". He blushes at such a rare compliment.
Dee'arna sees her two friends smiling back at her, and takes this as a general assent to her line of reasoning.
"Before we take up that step though, is it time to invite the next guest to our curse convention? I believe Yearu was next on the list?"
“He was, but unless I get him here first time without any questions, I’m going to be magically tapped out for the day.”
"Well I wouldn't want to leave you feeling exhausted Kem... Another day... we will invite sssomeone else to join us."
And with a sly wink, she turns back to Ronkk
"So my suggestion is to look out for suspicious people, especially if linked to the number three, and the themes of your poetry. If you come across them, would you let me know? You could leave me a note, for Fort Ettin or here. Or I should revisit this space on most Sunedays... and see who shows?"
Ronkk takes all of this in.
"Yeah, oroit. I can probs do that... you expectin' me to run into some weird 3 people?"
"Going on our recent experiences... yess."
"To be honest Ronkk, if you find any weird people talking about numbers, liquids, and metals and it doesn't make sense just let us know. Okay? It's not like we won't want to hear about it if it's one of ours'. We'll do the same for you."
Kem rolls his eyes and smiles to himself, "Look at us being a functioning team."
"Righto"
"Well in that case Ronkk, good to see you again and sorry you didn't get to meet any deities." Kem says as he studies Ronkk's expression, giving him a final chance to catch the deception.
"That's OK. I'll keep on the lookout fer' weirdo baddies and a god."
Ronkk downs the remainder of a drink on the table, belches loudly and stands.
".........................bye."
He turns and leaves.
"Shit. Basket."
He turns back, returns to pick it up and then leaves again.
"Have a safe journey back my friend. There are a lot of strange people walking this city at night lately." Kem says, with sincerity, as he looks Ronkk in the eye before he leaves.
As the goliath exits, Kem's foot brushes against Dee'arna's under the table, "That's why I'll be getting a double bed here anyway. To stay safe."
Dee'arna's little smirk is back.
"Such a wise choice. With the Hekrati as enemies, I could also do with someone watching my back... at night... are you suggesting you are up for the task?"
He leans in, reaching out to run his fingers through her hair - being careful not to let the mark touch her skin, “Hard to say, but just to be sure we need to keep each other awake all night.”
"And here I thought you were just saying you were worried about being tapped out early... "
She glances at his hand and back at her own, and down at her body.
"Well... I'd prefer it if our other guests sstay out of this business. How good are you at waiting? There's a ritual I need to finish first."
“For you I can be… patient.” He whispers the last word into her ear.
Her reaction to this is definitely... sparks in her eyes, and a little caught breath. She gives him a wicked grin with her teeth showing, and then turns and walks away... to find him again later.