"6 and a bone!" Whisperclaw smiles. She lifts the top of her mug off the table, revealing a pair of dice and a bone, "I win!"
"Aww, c'mon!" Renald slumps back into our seat, "I suck at this game."
"You did better than me." I lean back as well, "I'm out. I don't have any money left anyway."
"You guys are just sore losers." Whisperclaw hums, wrapping her arms around the pile of gold coins in the center of the table and pulling it closer to herself.
We are inside the Goblin Pot Tavern, enjoying our dinner and passing the time playing some dice and bones while we wait for Glimmer to return from taking Bella to the city stables.
"I wonder what could be taking them so long." I think out loud.
"Worried about Glimmer?" Renald bites one of his dragonfire wings and takes a swing of his ale.
"Just a bit. I know he's with a ranger, but still. They've been gone for a while." I look down at my salad.
"I'm worried about him, too." Whisperclaw furrows her brow and counts her spoils from our game of dice and bones, "Plus, I don't trust this 'ranger' you guys keep mentioning."
"It's no use worrying about it." Renald manages to get out in between bites. "He probably decided to get in some sightseeing while he's with a guide."
"Yeah, you're probably right." This eases my mind a little. Still, something feels off.
"Sure, but if he doesn't come back to the room tonight, Ironvine, we're going looking for him." Whisperclaw looks at me.
"Sounds like a plan." I munch on a forkful of salad.
"On another note, it's time we talked about the bandit." Renald leans forward. Whisperclaw and I do the same, as if by instinct.
"You managed to get some information out of him?" I'm surprised at Renald's efficiency.
"I managed to get some…" He answers quickly and hushedly, "...He said something about his boss being a saber named Blackthorne."
Renald looks around before continuing.
"Blackthorn has been gearing up for some kind of illegal underground auction, so he's been sending his goons to steal equipment and money from adventurers passing through the first floor." Renald's eyes go blank. "Among the things he's stolen, the bandit told me Blackthorn found an ethereal enchantment scroll. If he manages to sell that, or use it himself, he could create a weapon that can phase through the physical and harm the soul."
"Woah." I almost drop my fork. "That means that he, or whoever he sells it to, will be able to deal irreparable damage to people. Not even magic can heal a broken soul."
"Yeah, so I think we should gather as much information as we need to find Blackthorn and get our hands on that scroll." Renald looks between me and Whisperclaw.
"I'm down. I was starting to get bored just traveling around the forest." Whisperclaw smiles at Renald.
"I'm cool with the idea, too, but where do we start looking?" I point out, "It's not like we can just walk up to people and ask about an underground auction."
"You're right, but I'm hoping we might be able to get some leads from Liaz." Renald glances across the tavern at Liaz, who is serving some other customers, "He runs a pretty busy operation, so I'm sure he's heard something."
"Are you sure you can trust him?" Whisperclaw glares at Liaz suspiciously. "How do we know he's not working with Blackthorn?"
"I don't, but he's the only lead we've got until Glimmer and Goldenclaw return." Renald stretches his arms above his head.
"So, let me get the plan right." I pull my notebook out from underneath my coat and begin writing everything down: "Blackthorn is getting ready to have an auction using stolen adventurers' gear. And, this is supposed to happen when?"
"Tomorrow night." Renald answers, "But the bandit couldn't give me any more specifics because he's not on the invite list."
"Ok, so the auction's going down tomorrow night, but we don't know where or when exactly. All we know is that it's going down in Amacedia, right?" I jot down bullet points.
"Right. We also know that Blackthorn has been hiring people to rob adventurers on the road to Amacedia." Whisperclaw reminds us.
"So tomorrow, we can ask around the town for any information anyone might have on stolen supplies and equipment." I scribble furiously, "We could also try to catch some of Blackthorn's men in the act and tail them."
"And I'll ask Liaz to be on the lookout for any suspicious customers. Maybe we'll get lucky." We all nod in agreement as Renald stands up, "I'll be back shortly."
He walks over to the bar, sits, and signals for Liaz. At this point in the night, things are beginning to settle down in The Goblin Pot. The majority of the louder patrons are starting to head home.
"I've been curious about this for a while, but you're not from Ardent, are you, Whisperclaw?" I take the opportunity to ask.
"No, I'm from Keyona." She downs the rest of her ale. "How'd you know?"
"Your accent. It's different from the rest of ours." I answer her question, "All this must be pretty strange to you, then."
"You mean the magical tower with a forest and a whole city on the inside?" Whisperclaw laughs, "Yes, it's all very strange to me."
"So how'd you end up meeting Vesper?" I pry just a bit, "It must have happened when you got to Vertalara, right?"
"You first. How'd you meet Vesper?" She grins.
"I met her at the Guild Association in Vertalara when I was signing up to be an adventurer." I reminisce about the moment, "She said she was putting together a Tower Expedition and she needed a doctor."
"Wait. You signed up to do this?" Whisperclaw asks, shock written on her face. "What kind of pacifist signs up to go to a place like this? You gotta have a death wish or something."
"Whisperclaw, how much do you know about the Tower of Abell?" I let my facial expression grow serious.
"To be honest, not much. I've heard some stories, though. The legends everyone's heard." Her eyes show an eagerness for answers, "Stories about a magical tower that just appeared one day. About a man who made a bet with God that he could climb all 100 floors and reach the top."
"Yes, very good." I smile a little, proud of Whisperclaws' current level of understanding, "The God Abell created the tower as a challenge to Vaserius, the first adventurer, and all adventurers after him. He promised that whoever reaches the top, a single wish shall be granted unto them."
"Yeah, I knew as much." She beams.
"Yes, but did you know that Abell had a sister?" I lower my voice to a whisper, "A twin sister named Celestria, who is responsible for creating the environments of each floor within the tower. Her magic is what gives the tower life."
"Interesting. So what does this have to do with you signing up to climb the tower?" Whisperclaw just looks confused now.
"I'm getting there, I'm getting there…" Before I can finish, a large human man with a pair of throwing axes on his sides and a lion skin coat thrown over his shoulders, which drapes down to his thighs and is tied at the waist, covering his lower half, bursts through the tavern door. He is wearing a horned helmet and has on a pair of bloodsteel gauntlets and boots. In his hands is a massive hammer.
"Where's the halfbreed?!" he screams the question, looking around the room with pure rage in his eyes.
"I don't appreciate that tone of voice in my establishment." There's a click, and Liaz points one of his pistols at the man, "How do you plan on paying for my door?"
"You!" The man locks eyes with Renald, who had stood up to move out of Liaz's way, "I'm going to break your nose for what you did to my pal."
There's a loud gunshot as Liaz fires his pistol into the man's shoulder, blowing off a huge chunk. I hear a female patron scream, and everybody begins to rush out of The Goblin Pot tavern.
"I said, 'I don't appreciate that tone of voice in my establishment." Liaz clicks his second pistol and aims it directly at the man's head, "How are you paying for my door?"
In a blur of movement, the man swings his hammer towards Liaz. Renald tries to step in the way, but the man is quicker, slamming his hammer into Liaz. He attempts to block it with his arm, throwing him into the wall beside him. I hear a bone crack, and I already know Liaz's arm is broken.
"Stay here." Whisperclaw leaps from the booth and is brandishing one of her daggers, which she didn't seem to have before.
Whisperclaw climbs on the back of the man and stabs down with her dagger, attempting to inject the blade into the top of his spine. The man turns just enough so that the dagger slices down his back instead, leaving a gruesome cut in its wake.
I go to stand up, but the man glares at me out of the side of his eye, freezing me with fear.
"You shouldn't look away during a fight." Renald hits the man dead in the temple with a right cross, sending him sprawling backwards, dazed.
Liaz pulls himself up using the wall as a support. He aims his gun at the man's face and fires. In another blur of movement, the man swings his hammer around and blocks the shot. Whisperclaw disappears in a wisp of black smoke and appears behind the man, in his shadow, hitting him over the top of his head with the butt of her dagger. The man collapses to the ground, unconscious.