#23: A Fate Worse Than Death

It’s hard to reconcile our current surroundings with what we remember of Xantharl’s Keep.  Starting in the fall, a mining operation financed by Mirabar took up occupation in the village, a result of a deposit of electrum, a valuable metal, found within a hole in the earth in the Lurkwood.  Since then, the miners have moved in with their tents, and the presence of Mirabarran soldiers has been a constant nuisance and drain on the village’s food stores for the winter.  While some aid has been shipped in from Mirabar, it has not been enough to offset the resources that have been used up by the soldiers.

The current lord of Xantharl’s Keep, Arvnsen Greywind, is a retired Mirabarran soldier himself, according to a local produce seller with a wagging tongue.  Despite the obvious suffering of his residents, Greywind seems to favor the Mirabarran soldiers, a fact that is not lost on the residents of Xantharl’s Keep.

There is an inn within the village walls, though it’s not the same that we remember.  Out of curiosity, I inquire as to the price of a room as well as a warm meal, trying to gauge just how dire the situation may be.  Rooms are available—the soldiers and miners keep to their own camps—the rate is reasonable, a single gold piece per room per night.  I’m surprised to find that the rate also includes a meal, though the innkeeper warns us that it might not be the quality we would normally expect.  While conducting this business, I also purchase a sling and a handful of bullets for Selben, as well as a handful of dried meat, in the case that my canine friend is still around.  The price for this last item comes as a shock, though perhaps it shouldn’t—I part with a pair of gold pieces for the bounty.

As we meander around town, we find ourselves at the outskirts of the eastern edge of the village near the miners’ tents.  In a silent moment, we hear a lilting voice drifting on the air:

O’er pastures borne
o’ fields of green
The river I follow,
its waters clean
With the flow, I ride,
‘til my heart doth cling
To pastures borne
o’ fields of green

Nearby is a well, and at it is a woman drawing water and singing to herself.  Beneath her winter cloak, we spy a red dress and scarf—together with the way her hair is bound, we instantly recall the garb of Kezia.  I leave my Carcerus mantle with Selben, and approach slowly, trying to seem as nonthreatening as possible.

“Excuse me,” I say hesitantly, then feign surprise.  “Your clothes…for a moment, I thought you were someone I knew.  Are you from Xantharl’s Keep?”  The woman responds hesitantly, explaining that she and her husband are from Mirabar.  Her husband is one of the miners.  I explain that I knew a woman, Kezia, and that she dressed in a very distinctive way, and that I have not seen anyone dressed the same way since.  She reveals that she is from the river valley.

Awkwardly, I ask her if she and her husband would be willing to join us for dinner, explaining that we have acquaintances in the valley and that we intend to travel there, and that we’d like to talk about what we might expect along the way.  “Why don’t we visit the camp this evening?”  I assent, and when asked her name, she replies “Odesia.”

We pass the rest of the afternoon until the appointed time, then we head to the direction of the mining camps.  Lit by bonfires, we’re able ascertain that there are perhaps two dozen soldiers, and the same number of miners and laborers.  We find Odesia sitting with a man that we assume to be her husband.  He’s a miner and seems amenable to our introduction—his name is Laerch Strolgam.  Laerch is from Mirabar, but Odesia was raised by her people in the valley.  Knowing no other way to break the ice, I pull out my deck of crude cards and ask Odesia if she’s ever seen anything like this before.

“You would not have an easy time finding them—strangers don’t generally intermingle with my people freely.”  Going for broke, I ask their patience to listen to a short story, and they agree.  I share an abbreviated account of our history in the Khedrun Valley, leaving out some of the details that aren’t critical to the telling, but this time include our encounter with Kezia—something that we usually exclude, due to the holes our meeting with her pokes into everything.

“Do they have a name?” I ask, referring to the cards.

“In my language they are called Tarokka,” she explains, though says she is not a user of them herself, that she lacks the gift.  She left her family over a year ago to marry Laerch, who she met when he and his brothers were fishing upriver.  They fell in love, and she made the decision that she would leave her family to live with her husband in Mirabar.

Feeling the need to fully explain myself, I share the first part of the reading, pointing out who each card represents, laying out the cards as I come to each layer of the reading.

“While I do not bear the gift, I do bear some knowledge of the talent.  I feel a very ill omen about the mine.  If you will see to the safety of my husband and these miners, then we will take you to the valley when the weather breaks and the river can be traveled once again.”

Odesia explains that the miners have been trying to break through a wall for weeks, and as that has progressed, she has grown more and more wary of what may lay beyond that wall.  Her husband, Laerch, says that “When you marry a river maiden, you learn to listen to what she has to say in such matters.”  When asked what her people collectively call themselves, she responds “Keravela.”  It’s not a word I know, nor a language I understand.

Odesia explains that she’s not confident in the soldiers’ abilities to protect the miners and asks if we will investigate the cave ourselves.  I ask if we might have the evening to convene privately on the matter, explaining that it’s a decision that affects my comrades, and that I can’t make it alone. 

After some deliberation, Laerch points us to the captain’s tent, and we approach to greet the man.  He is flanked by guards, and they stand to return the greeting.  The captain’s name is Rale Cotchen, cousin to Laerch, and he explains that he’s overseer of the mining operation.  When asked how it fares, he explains that it’s progressing well, and that he hopes to be through the rock barrier in the next day or two.  His tone seems to question our purpose, which leaves me unsure how to proceed.

When Audric asks what he hopes might be beyond the wall, Rale smiles and answers “Great riches, we hope.”  Rale questions our purpose directly, and when we reply with vague indications of dangers beyond the wall, he smirks.

“You’ve been talking to the river maiden,” he replies.  “What share did she offer you?”

Taken by surprise by the question, not having any clue what he’s talking about, I react the only way I know how—violently.  I draw out a knife and throw it into the dirt at his feet, growling at him when he questions my motivations.  I explain through gritted teeth that we seek not riches, but that it’s part of a deal with made with Laerch and his wife, a deal that has nothing to do with the captain, his soldiers, or the damned mine.

“Well, if there are other things you seek from the girl, I would tread carefully there as well.  There are rumors that the child that she carries is not her husband’s.”  Ignoring the jab, I continue to stare the captain down, and he grins, seemingly with approval.

“Very well, then,” he says smiling.  Rale is planning on visiting the mine in the morning to check progress and welcomes us to accompany him as his personal guests.

“Done,” I reply sternly, grabbing my knife and slamming it back into its sheath.

We arrive at the appointed time near the eastern gate to the village, meeting a group of a dozen or so soldiers and miners in the company of the captain, as well as a guide from the village.  We march through the forest a fair distance until finally coming to a great hole in the earth surrounded by tents and many men doing work.  The hole appears to be a natural sinkhole which drops into darkness.  A soldier approaches to report to Captain Rale.  “There’s been an incident,” the soldier says grimly.  He points past the mine entrance to the tents beyond, where men look to be treating the corpse of a fallen miner.

“Only a couple hours ago, the miners broke through the rock wall, exposing the cavern beyond.  We were immediately assaulted by a putrid odor, that of death itself.  One of the miners climbed through with a torch to see what lay beyond, but as soon as he did, he began screaming.  The torch went out, and when we pulled him back his face and chest were bloodied, and the man was dead.  Three men quickly hoisted a boulder into place to reseal the opening.”

When asked, the captain gathers the miners that were in the tunnel so that they might be questioned for more details.  For the most part, it’s more of the same.  One man, however, grimly states that he saw something.  “I was one of the men that pulled him out.  When we lifted the boulder back up and put it into place, I saw a hand reach from beyond the darkness, just for an instant before we covered the opening.”

Rale looks at us expectantly, indicating that this is the reason we’re here, and asks us how we intend to proceed.  The cavern below is wide enough for two to stand abreast, the rock wall in a tunnel perhaps 50 yards from the entrance.  I inform the captain that we require four men—two with lanterns, two with torches, and he mimics my response from the previous night.  “Done,” he replies, perhaps too quickly.

The scree of broken stone amid the ropes descending into the tunnel makes it difficult enough to traverse going down, but very difficult if we find ourselves in a position to flee quickly.  When we finally arrive at the boulder we are nearly overpowered by the stench of death.  Audric uses his familiar to peer through openings in the imperfect seal, and it is able to empathetically represent that there are multiple creatures beyond, dangerous and terrifying to the small animal.  Audric draws upon Mystra’s blessing to try and discern the nature of the threat beyond the hole, and his powers reveal a strong, malignant evil within.

Conjuring forth my most powerful abjurations, we instruct the guards to pry loose the boulder so that we can reveal what lies beyond.  Knowing the threat to be dangerous, Audric summons a pair of hobgoblins into the dark chamber, and the sounds of conflict are immediate, with screams piercing the darkness.  With a brief incantation, I bring forth a small magical light which illuminates the cavern and Audric begins to clamber through the opening.  We see the hobgoblins being mauled by a half-dozen creatures that, at first glance, I mistake for those from Shadfeld.  Upon further inspection, however, they appear to be true undead, with bulging, glowing yellow eyes and thin, wiry hair.  Fearful of our ability to effectively combat such a large number of foes, we pull Audric back through the hole.  Defending the opening should be easier than a pitched combat in an open chamber.

Our foes move quickly, and our tactics prove to be insufficient, as a pair of the creatures are immediately through the opening and upon us.  The soldiers and Bonie support us with bolt and arrow, but the missiles prove ineffective.  I conjure forth a shimmering, floating hammer adorned with fetishes of the Beastlord, as well as a blade of flame that extends from my palm.  Despite this, however, Audric and I are driven back by the creatures, one of them striking Audric, who is nearly overcome by a deep weakness and emptiness that saps his strength.  A soldier at his side falls as well, and we are nearly overtaken, with a third creature clambering through the hole to join the fray.

In desperation, I instruct Selben to use his powers to attempt to magically enlarge the creature climbing through the opening, hoping that it may stall its advance and buy us time.  Audric cries out for us all to flee, the warrior stepping into melee again to stymie the undead advance.  Unwilling to let Audric sacrifice himself, I stand at his side and echo his order to the others, and we are both assaulted by the creatures, another clawing at Audric again, draining the warrior of yet more will and strength.

Behind us, Bonie is the first to reach the opening to the mine and scrambles to the top, helping draw others up to safety.  We hear her cries for us to join the flight, and Audric and I withdraw, battling back the undead as we stumble to the mine opening.  Fortunately, the creatures do not pursue us into the daylight, and Bonie and the others help us climb out of the pit.

Bearing few wounds but spiritually broken, we stare down at the creatures below.  They hover in the darkness just beyond the reach of the sunlight, mocking our failure.