The guards lifted the group and carried them back to the resting area that Jin had been resting in the last few days. Since Tess had only fought the assassin for a few attack exchanges she was capable of moving first and, with Zatrian left the tent.
May was the second to wake and thinking of opportunity, quickly scurried to the Shaman’s building again to swipe the magical gear from his body before making her way back. As Jin and Zilo began to stir the three began to discuss the trip home since the last real threat to Zatrian had been slain.
Jin spoke, ”Wait for a second, I don’t think you realize a big problem we have.”
“And what’s that?” Responded May.
“The horses really aren’t too keen on us after we road them dry for days on end. We were lucky to get them to this city!” May reflexively touches her cheek to reveal a faint hoof print that had been obscured with a bit of healing magic.
“Well, they don't hate me. I should be able to rein them up onto the cart while you both... “Zilo’s train of thought is halted as he thinks back to the cart’s current spot, abandoned on the road about a week’s distance at the minimum from the city.
“I see the dilemma.” As they begin to question how to get out of walking all the way back to Deneval. The resting area’s dividing tarp gets pushed aside to show Zatrian and Tess, returned from their short time away.
“Perfect, you all are up, come with us a second. The people of Or Enialaith decided to give you a gift for getting Zatrian here safely.”
The three of them looked to each other puzzled and followed outside to see a green-tinted wooden carriage that like all aspects of the wood elf city, looked to have been grown rather than built. The carriage gave off a distinctly wild aura with vines, flowers, and a pleasant woody scent to it.
The SSI warriors flocked about the carriage with Zilo casting a quick detect magic and remarking, “This thing feels magic to it, what is it?”
Zatrian motions to it and says, “They picked it out once they heard that Zilo was a fetchling. This is a Planar Carriage or at least mostly. Since Zilo is of another plan they figured that he might make use of it to visit home every now and again.
May looks to the elf and asks, “What do you mean by mostly?”
“Typically a Planar Carriage can be moved via magic itself, even to other planes of existence, but this one will need to be pulled still. That said, it is still able to transcend planes. The Elves like to use it to visit the fey wilds rather than travel deep into the forest like we did.”
Zilo pulled the horses over to the new Carriage and they took to the pull reigns on it easily enough. Jin and May, fully out of view, the two horses proved more than happy to begin the journey home.
Zilo, Jin, and May said their goodbyes to Zatrian and Tess, who planned to stay behind to respectively spread the high elf stories and be a bodyguard. The road would be long, but on the way back, May took out the assassin’s gear and asked for Zilo to Identify the magic gear that the assassin had.
Zilo found among his equipment a Lesser Poisoner’s Jacket, a +2 Toxic Swordbreaker dagger, a Belt of Physical Perfection +4, Sandals of the Dryad, a Headband of Mental Prowess +4, a Hunter’s Cloak, a Cavalryman’s Bow and his Keen +4 Elven Curved Blade.
Zilo also decided to take a look at his new blade and discovered how it had saved him from a fatal blow. He had figured that the blade was enchanted with speed after using it, but he discovered that Scherzo also hows a Defiant will to help the wielder resist the pull of death.
The days on the road proved rather dull without the assassin nipping at their tails, with the only thing to do as the time passed being to decide who back home should get which items of the Assassin’s. Zilo ended up receiving the Hunter’s Cloak, if only because none of the other gear seemed any better than what he already used, and the cloak might sell for a fair amount.
Finally after what felt like too long the three of them arrived back in Deneval, and Zilo sold the cloak and with a fraction of the profit, he paid for himself and Jin to be freed of their afflictions from the King’s Sleep poison. Night had begun to fall and so as they returned to their home the tavern looked to have a full house.
As they all walked back into the tavern Zilo was greeted by a hug from Aria. She ran off the stage to leap onto the surprised bard who swung her about as she said, “Take you that long to deal with an assassin?”
Zilo tilted his head with a smile and said, “We didn’t just deal with him, we got sidetracked, but I got something out of it.” Zilo took out his new sword to show to Aria and began to tap it along the ground with a rhymic pattern. Aria and all those in the tavern begin to feel the beat influence them.
Zilo makes his way in a dancing fashion over to the stage area as he continues to tap along with a beat and Aria snaps out her violin and joins him. The tavern quickly went from humdrum to jubilant as the two master minstrels weaved their magic playing together.
Zilo got a bit cocky as they played and with a bit of flair, he took the center stage for a spiraling fantastic finale, leading to a grand applause from the patrons. He looked back to Aria and she was joining the hand clapping as the bard tipped his hat. Maldrek erupted out from his office as the clapping died down and he had a huge smile on his face.
“Zilo, I thought that was you! Keep the music playing, today is a day to celebrate!”
Zilo looked over to his friend with a questioning look and says, “What’s got you so happy? You’re never happy.” Maldrek walks back into the office and comes back out with Clay. Maldrek whispers into Clay’s ear and Clay cups his hands together. Zilo can suddenly hear Clay’s voice from deep in his ear speak,
“Maldrek I learned to do a cantrip today, mister Realms.” Zilo’s Smile extends further as he snaps his finger over to Aria and shouts, “Today is a day to celebrate, get those strings a moving.”
“Precisely what I was doing.” Aria resumed her playing as Zilo joined her dancing with his blade. From the bar, Cruxis produced a bottle of champagne and bit his fang into the cork before popping it out with the leverage of his tooth.
“Wait a second! Fang? Cruxis has a fang?” Spoke the man in the hat from another world. The man looked across a table at the man called dave, who held in his hands the sheet with Cruxis’s name on it.
Dave spoke, “Yeah, I have a fang.”
“But your human?”
“What? No, I'm not.” Spoke dave, as he turned the sheet towards the man in the hat. Across one of the topmost lines were written, “Race: Half-Orc”. The man in the hat looked to the skinny man with the spiked hair who held Maldrek’s Sheet and the hat man spoke,
“Has he always been a half-orc, he’s been using that human mini.”
The spiky-haired man shrugged and responded, “I thought he was full orc actually.”
“How can he be a full orc if he’s got a human mini!?”
Dave points to a small statuette on a drawing that looks to be the top-down view of the Maldrek’s tavern. Dave speaks, “I’ve been using the paladin mini! You painted it that way, It's not my fault it doesn’t have green skin.”
“I’ve got orcs, Dave, here let me-!”
“I know you have orcs, but that all have patchwork leather and grey armor, I wanted to use the Paladin, Remember!?”
“Not in the slightest.”
The one known as Jones interrupts, “Why does it matter!? Can we get back to the game?”
The man in the hat makes a little not on his sheet as dave speaks, “How do you think I always got up after I go down so much?!”
“I thought you had diehard or something.”
“That’s not how diehard works.”
“I’m rolling for the roof to collapse.” Said the one called Jones in a somber tone.
With a tense expression the man in the hat speaks to the one known as Jones, “So, I was rolling performance, right?”
“Right”
In the Sword and Sorcery Inc Tavern Zilo’s dancing went long into the night as Cruxis, the Paladin with his easily identifiable green skin and fangs continued to open bottles with his extremely noticeable tusks. Everyone there continued to recall all the times his DEFINITELY Half-orc abilities had helped in their adventures up til this point.
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