Last time... Zilya and Karel ran into Zilya's mentor, Timok, and Karel's friend, Arron, who were accompanied by two strange humans. They had to flee, and Zilya lost her torches in the process. They came up out of the tunnel into a building in Novstrech, the town they'd come from to get into the Cube in the first place. During their escape from the guards they bumped into they lost their backpacks, and were left with only their gold, Karel's axe, some of Zilya's knives and stilettos, and pretty much no dignity. Oh, they did make it out with a map showing more locations like the Cube they just got out of. There's that.
As they faded into the crowded street Karel and Zilya began to feel better. Karel's hunger and thirst seemed to just disappear. All of a sudden he heard a quiet whisper: it was his long-dead grandmother. She assured Karel the spirits were with him. And Karel drew strength from that. Zilya's nausea faded, and a spring returned to her step. Karel, however, still had a really bad cut on his arm, and despite the assurance that the spirits were with him he remained angry about having left his friend Arron with what seemed like his captors. So Zilya brought Karel to see her friend, Katia, who was more than happy to put them up for a week or so, while the guards looked around for them. Karel hoped the convalescence would help his arm to heal.
It didn't.
So, after the week was up, Karel thought he would try to sleep on an actual bed, by himself, for a little while. He checked into The Swift Kitchen, one of the seedier inns in Novstrech, and hunkered down there for a bit, hoping that some alone time and additional medical care would help his arm to heal up faster. But it didn't. His arm stayed a festering wound.
During this time, holed up and out of the way, Zilya and Karel processed the events of the Cube. Zilya realized what was missing in her technique for sneak attacks, and came up with a few solutions to ensure she wouldn't get caught like she had. Karel figured out how they'd evaded the townsfolk they'd fled from and thought up a few tricks of his own, to ensure that nobody could do that to them. The time at The Swift Kitchen didn't help heal his arm, but Karel did feel more rested than he had in a while, so that was something at least.
Zilya, for her part, was now in a much better mood after having hung out with her friend for a few days. Since Katia no longer really had the resources to really put her up, it was time to get out of town. She joined back up with Karel and they went to the market to replenish some of their gear. They left Karel's axe at Katia's, as weapons larger than a dagger were illegal in Novstrech.
Karel got some torches for some of the gold shavings that he had. Zilya was not so lucky, as one of the other vendors at the market flat out refused to sell her the backpack she was trying to get. Karel came over and tried to get the man to see sense, but he was turned away as well. Fortunately another vendor, of a more open persuasion, accepted the shaved gold for some satchels. They picked up some rations as well.
And that was as far as their gold could take them in the markets of Novstrech.
They managed to get Karel's axe out of Novstrech by sheer dumb luck, walking it right out the front gates and hoping nobody would notice. Somehow, nobody did. Outside the town Karel and Zilya bumped into a party of about a dozen adventurers. Some of them looked really seedy, but the captain looked alright to them. He told them of the rumors he had heard of great riches to be found in the mountains far to the north. Would they mind joining up with his motley gang? More people would be helpful in surviving the bitter colds of the north! And well, someone could probably take a look at Karel's arm in their little band. Maybe help him get it back to normal.
That was a done deal. They headed north, next to the Yewkhol River, towards the small town of Yerwo, three days distant from Novstrech.
No comments:
Post a Comment