Ok, so it’s not exactly “tomorrow.” As I said, with the gate opened the company got the hell out of dodge. Previously, any view of the world outside Zhougal Keep stopped after about five feet with impenetrable darkness (not unlike a darkness spell). This time, we were moving through a break in the darkness that appeared relatively normal, and after a short jaunt we were clearly back into normal space. Exhausted, we sat back and, except for some scouting around, waited for the sun to come up. It did. We didn’t die. Success!
With that little detail wrapped up, we assessed the situation. The Nar(f) we had followed were all dead; their leader was gruesomely decapitated by the stone gout that erupted when we first reached the ruins, and we killed the others in the early going of eternal skeletons in the courtyard. Their horses, however, were still around, along with ours, so we had either a) self-propelled loot or b) self-propelled food. Seydlitz was also still alive, and figured to be a bit trickier to deal with. Now that we were on to his magical abilities, he let a shoe drop - he didn’t want to go back to the Adzo. Apparently in Rasheman a male caster gets stuck in a cave or something, and who wants that? Fair enough, said Lu Tse, he can come with us. “Really?” the boy asked excitedly. Nobody in the company was necessarily thrilled with the idea, but they didn’t seem to hate it, either; none of us had a keen interest to stick around except maybe Rahil, but being a native of a village that small is usually contra-indicative of wanting to be in said village.
Then the other shoe dropped. We asked him if he had any idea why he had been singled out. Did the Nar(f) know that he had magic powers? With all the guile of a 9-year-old, Seydlitz told us “you won’t like the answer.”
Oh. Well how bad can the answer be?
“I paid them,” he said. “I told them to come kidnap me.”
Wait. What?
“I didn’t want to be taken. I don’t want to go where they want me to go.”
“Do you realize how many people died? More than a dozen Nar. More than a dozen of your own townsfolk!”
Seydlitz shrugged. “They were going to stand aside and let me be taken away. I’m meant for greater things than that.”
Great; this is what chaotic evil looks like at nine years. Darwin would be in heaven; Sephora was fuming, livid that she’d invested herself so heavily into protecting the little shit. We press him on how he got the Nar(f) to do this; so many men in a raid would mean a lot of money. Seydlitz clammed up right about then, but Lu Tse remembered a pouch full of gold coins that he’d seen (and left) by the body of the Nar(f) leader. He mentioned it to Grapthar, who went and fetched what turned out to be 100 coins of gold. Seydlitz wouldn’t say how he came up with the money, but at least part of he mystery was solved.
The company returned to Adzo, toting four extra horses and a hog-ted little boy. When they reached the little collection of yurts (o! how I’ll miss including that word…) they made a beeline for the priestess lady who seemed to be in charge, not wanting to talk much with anyone about the bleak discoveries that they’d made. One very uncomfortable conversation later, the boy was no longer their concern and the company had been officially regarded as “Welcome in Adzo,” which not everyone who comes through is. Our stat damage was repaired, Lu Tse checked to make sure his stump money hadn’t been the source of Seydlitz’s slaughter before turning the cash over to the village, Sephora saw to the horses and began the long process of cleaning the mental filth of these events off of her psyche, and generally all the excitement of the last two(!) days came to rest.
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