Chapter 5 Belronde

On their sixth day of adventure, they woke to warmer weather and no wind. They picked up their pace when they noticed they had left the forest. A light rain had begun to fall once they reached the end of the Cronemoor River.

They walked for hours in their usual formation; Riswynn in front with Disia and Nim not too far behind, Lila at the back, scouting. They chatted happily about where they came from while Riswynn told them what she could about Brine. Eventually Riswynn caved to their questions about last night's visit and she filled them in with the warnings they gave and Nim having something to do with being special.

By the time the small town of Belronde came into view; Nim looked ready to faint, Lila looked scared, and Disia was either ready for a drink or was preparing for a war, maybe both.

"Don't worry," Riswynn said, giving them a warm smile as they walked up to the front gates.

"I know the family of dwarves here. They're very smart and very nice. The town is also known for its quality of wine."

"Finally," Disia let out a sigh of relief. Everyone chuckled and the situation lightened as they walked in.

"I'm looking for Nosin Elairodr," Riswynn said when two guardsmen stopped them a few feet in.

"Sorry, he's not around," one of them replied.

"Are his two sons then? Igin? Gyde?" She asked as she took a quick glance around. Things had changed. The air felt different to her, and there was a lot more male humans in armor than usual.

"Not at the moment." Came another quick reply. Riswynn was getting frustrated. She tried a different approach.

"Does their cousin, Martia still run the Gypsy Rose?"

"The tavern?" Asked the other guardsmen. Riswynn nodded. Disia saw her cue,

"We been traveling a bit, and it's a bit cold out there. I don't know about them three," she said gesturing to her friends.

"But, I heard this town is known for its wine. And I fancy a good drink." She winked at them. The guardsmen returned her flirt with a smile.

"Yes," they both replied in unison. Nim and Lila chuckled.

"It's still there. Just make sure that little one doesn't steal anything," the first guardsman said eyeing Lila as they both went back to their patrol.

"Really!?" Lila whispered quietly when they were out of range. The other three laughed.

"Alright, Ris, lead the way," Disia said. Everyone's mood had picked up except for Riswynns. Something seemed to be bugging her.

A young homely woman with blonde hair tied into a bun stood behind a run down counter, cooking. A distinct half-moon birthmark could be seen on her neck. An older male dwarf sat at one of the tables drinking from a glass while tapping his fingers. A scar runs over his cheek and heavy armor covers his body. The young woman stopped what she was doing when Riswynn and the group enter the low-key bar. Disia walked up to the counter.

"What's the cost of your wine?" She asked.

"Two silver." The woman quietly answers. Disia places one of her gold coins on the counter.

"One glass for each of us please, and keep the change." The young woman nodded as she took the coin and begins filling the glasses. Riswynn glances around the room. Not much has changed. Still a dim, quiet place to drink and eat. She didn't recognize the young woman behind the counter or the male dwarf in heavy armor.

"Riswynn Ungart!" A gruff womans familiar voice yelled loudly.

"Martia!" Riswynn smiled when she saw who called her. A thinner, shorter dwarf with lighter brown hair and eyes hugged Riswynn, and it seemed ages before they parted.

"So," Martia began her voice still booming as she poured herself a drink.

"What brings you all this way east, so far from the Spires?" The young blonde woman brings the four glasses of wine to an empty table and the four sit down while Martia joined them.

"Commander Biri," Riswynn answered her. Martia was barely able to take a sip.

"Careful with that name around here," Martia said swallowing her ale. Riswynn gave her a puzzled look.

"There's something going on?" Nim jumped in. Martia leaned in closer to Riswynn as she took another sip of her drink.

"I can't say much. Spies could be around anywhere. Always listening in." Martia's eye began twitching and her words became quieter as she spoke. Riswynn knew this was not her familiar voice, she was always loud. Her manner seemed to change in a matter of seconds though,

"I'm sure you guys are starving. How long have you been out in the cold? How about a meal on the house? It is my place after all!" She grinned and just like that her voice was loud and gruff again.

"Suse! How about cooking them up some eggs!" The young woman nodded and began cooking again. Lila still hadn't touched her wine, while Nim and Disia's glass were halfway gone.

"It's not gonna hurt you there Little One," Disia said. Lila shrugged her shoulders and figured what could it hurt. She must have taken too big of a sip, most of it came out her nose while the rest dribbled down her chin.

"Blech," she said while shaking her head and pushing the glass away from her. Everyone at the table laughed, Disia's laugh surprisingly louder than Martia's.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Little One," Disia said after everyone had calmed down. Martia came back with a glass of water and Disia took Lila's glass of wine. Riswynn and Martia chatted some more over their glasses of wine. It felt nice just to relax and talk to one another for a few hours.

A man dressed in clothing almost as dark as the bar walked in and sat down at one of the empty tables. He glanced at their table for a second then at the male dwarf. Riswynn noticed Martias eye began twitching again.

"Gili, isn't it time for your guard duty soon?" The dwarf tapped his fingers for a few seconds more and then left a few coins on the table.

"Thanks for the drink Suse. Take care, Martia," he said as he left.

"Hey, Suse," the man in dark clothing gestured towards her.

"How about a glass of wine." Suse nodded and filled a glass for him. He sat back down at his table and began humming a quiet tune to himself. Lila watched him closely, she was particularly interested in the clothes he had on.

"Why does he wear such weird clothing?" She asked in a whisper. The others snickered gently.

"He's always dressed like that," Martia replied her eye still twitching. Her words had started to go quiet again. Riswynn watched this intently and the odd dressed man who continued to hum. She had a feeling he had something to do with what was going on.

But Martia is closed up about what's really going on.

Riswynn thought of an idea.

"Martia, you still have room to sleep here right?"

"Of course. It's just cots, but I'm sure it beats sleeping out there."

"We'd like to sleep here for the night. I'm sure we could come to some sort of agreement for payment."

"Nonsense," Martia said quickly getting up from her chair.

"I'll go set everything up right now," she echoed loudly as she started down a set of stairs. Nim and Disia glanced at each other. Catching on, Nim nodded at Disia.

"I'm sure you could use some help," Disia said chasing after her. Lila took off after Disia. She had no clue of Riswynns plan, just the man in odd clothes gave her the creeps.

"Martia must be making good business for herself to be handing out free accommodations like that," the man said inviting himself over to their table.

"We're good friends," Riswynn said hoping to egg him on.

"Who may you be?" He asked sitting down beside her.

"Riswynn Ungart of the Bundushath Spires," she said smiling.

"And you?" Nim butted in.

"Wulfa," he replied holding out his hand with a smile. Something about the man's name rung a bell for Riswynn, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Nim," she said as she gently shook his hand.

"What business do you have here?" He had turned back to Riswynn.

"We're looking for a group of four men from the Wand and Bell."

"Oh, yes," he said with another smile on his face.

"I remember them. They headed north through Dragonrend Mountains to Eadnoth Keep to meet up with Nosin I believe."

"What's Nosin doing there?" Asked Riswynn. Nosin never left Belronde unless it was serious.

"I think he's there for business. Anyway those four men came here looking to meet with him. It's just a few days travel, if you don't get lost, mind you."

"Travel through Dragonrend Mountain? I heard it's not too safe," Riswynn said.

"It's plenty safe." Wulfa nodded. "I reckon your group will do just fine. Keep north, and if you start to see a dark castle, you've headed too far west."

"What's that?" Nim asked.

"That is a dark and dangerous place no one has lived in for many years. It's uninhabitable for life, but rumours say that something else might be living there." Riswynn and Nim nodded.

"Thanks," Riswynn said.

"I'll be heading now," Wulfa got up from their table. "Have a good evening ladies and enjoy your stay." Wulfa left the Gypsy Rose with an evil grin on his face no one else saw.

"Do you think what he said was true?" Nim whispered leaning over the table to Riswynn.

"I'm not sure. Something's out of place in this town. Nosin isn't here either, and it's rare for him to ever leave like that. We'll talk more about it later," she finished quickly as Lila, Disia, and Martia came back up the stairs.

"All set for tonight!" Martia said while glancing at the table Wulfa sat at. Seeing he had gone, she sat down next to Riswynn happily. Nim stood up from her chair and grabbed her bag.

"Come on Disia. Let's go do a little shopping. We're going to need more supplies."

"You all leaving so soon?" Martia asked.

"Tomorrow morning. We're just staying the night," Riswynn said as she placed a hand on Martia's arm. It finally dawned on Martia what had happened while she was gone. Her eyes welled up with tears, and a small smile formed across her face.

"Thank you," she whispered as best she could, placing her hand on Riswynns.

"Come on, Little One," Disia said as she grabbed her bag as well. Once again, Lila followed Disia out the room.

It was a few hours later when Disia, Nim, and Lila returned to the Gypsy Rose. Riswynn and Martia were talking excitedly about old times over a pitcher of ale, while Suse was wiping down tables.

"Find anything?" Riswynn asked noticing that the girls finally walked in.

"Got some torches and a few healing potions. All we could afford," Disia said sitting down and pouring herself a drink.

"They had some nice weapons out there. None we could buy though," she continued after she had taken a sip. Lila's stomach gave a loud grumble.

"S-sorry," Lila said quietly placing her hands on her stomach.

"Suse, how about some bread and cheese for dinner?" Martia said loudly more as a request than a question.

"Sure thing," she smiled.

"You have quite a few warehouses for a small town Martia," Disia said.

"Oh, that's for Tane." Martia didn't realize what she said before she let it slip.

"Who?" Riswynn asked.

"Tane," Martia said quietly, her eye started twitching again. Nim noticed it this time as well.

"We also found this other bar. The," Disia said still talking about the town.

"The Gilded Horde."

"Oh, Yes." Martia nodded.

"That's a bigger bar. All the military men are in there usually. Lots of drinking. Fighting."

"That would explain the yelling when we walked by," Nim laughed. Suse came back then with plates for everyone, including herself. She sat down with them for dinner and asked where they came from.

Nim came from an allied land they knew of, Forlonde. She talked about how she was raised to be a Holy Priestess in the town of Ravenwood. Even before she was born her destiny to be here was being planned.

Disia came from the Earth realm of Enessar. She was born in Corke Stronghold and raised to work at her parents inn, The Harlequins Chain. Martia challenged her to a drinking game when they were to return.

Lila was the youngest of them all, at 19 years of age. She stumbled over her words as she told her story. They could all see she was still in some great pain. Lila didn't get to know her parents well, her family was robbed when she was a young girl and her parents were murdered trying to protect their home. For many years she roamed the streets alone. She had met an elvish man before she hit her early teens who had become her mentor. Three months ago he was killed by a hill giant. They ate in silence for a few moments after that.

Suse cleared her throat.

"So, you guys are going through Dragonrend Mountain?" She asked. Nim and Riswynn looked at her.

"It looks that way, why?" Riswynn asked.

"I have a favor to ask of you," she said, setting down a hunk of bread. "Awhile ago, I had some things stolen from me. Heirlooms, that are very precious to me. I'm very far from my family, and my husband has passed away."

"Who took what?" Nim asked.

"My husband gave me a gold bracelet when we got married. It has my initials, S H engraved into them. There's also an embroidered silk handkerchief that is my mothers. It's purple with yellow lining. She gave it to me to remember her by. A dark elvish druid stole them from me when I first came to this town. She took whatever I had left on me that day, but I don't care about those things. I just want my keepsake's back. They mean so much to me." Suse looked like she was ready to cry. "If it wasn't for Martia, I wouldn't have a job or a place to stay."

"Are you sure this druid is in the mountains?" Riswynn asked.

"We've been asking around for years. Some say she headed in that direction. Others say they've seen a dark elf traveling through the mountains that fit her description," Martia said. Riswynn nodded.

"I can't guarantee anything, but if we come across this druid we'll try to get your things back."

"Thank you," Suse said as she got up and put the plates away. Martia turned to her friend.

"Got enough to keep warm up there in those mountains? It gets cold this time of year."

"I think we got enough."

"Let me give you some extras, just in case. It can get below freezing, and you've never been through those mountains."

The Gypsy Roses' cellar was colder, darker, and more run-down than the upstairs. Only a few candles were used as a light source.

Four cots were laid out, each in a corner of the room. Martia had given them four more blankets, coats with fur, and a bedroll for their trip.

"I added in some extra food and water in case you needed it. I will need the coats when you're back though."

"Of course," Riswynn smiled.

"Sorry about it being so cold down here."

"That's alright. Prepares us for our trip," Disia said.

"Thank you so much again," Nim said. Martia closed the door behind her.

The four discussed their plans for the trip tomorrow. In the end Riswynn decided it was not like Nosin, Belronde's ruler, to leave his town for just 'business.' She had been around all day and not once did Igin or Gyde come visit her. This was not like either of them as well. If those four members of the Wand and Bell did travel north to Eadnoth Keep, and if that's where Nosin was as well, then that is where they would go as well.

What is the worst that could happen? Disia and Nim seemed ready for anything. And Lila? Well, Lila was still caught up in her mentor's death.