“Here you go,” said the foreman, setting two cups of tea on the table in front of him and Lilly. The sight of softened calluses dotting Pike’s hands didn’t escape Drake. And as the middle-aged man tucked a few locks of his gray streaked hair behind his ear, Pike sat himself down in front of them, leaning back against the simple, padded chair. “Alright,” the foreman wheezed, stemming off a couple of light coughs. “I’m terribly sorry to ask this of you, but is there any chance that you could please prove to me that you are who you say you are?”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Drake raised his right hand and exhaled, channeling a small, yet steady supply of mana into his silver band. A moment later, the ring’s light-blue engravings began to glow, pulsing steadily in tune with his heartbeat.

Pike closed his eyes and sighed. “Thank you for humoring me,” he said, wiping the beads of sweat that had formed over his forehead, “Given the circumstances, I have to be careful. Again, I ask your forgiveness, but is there a specific reason as to why the Guild took so long to send someone over?”

“Before I answer your question,” said Drake as he set down the steaming cup of tea, “I’d prefer it if you first explained the situation to us.” Seeing the foreman’s brow rise, he continued. “We’ve been briefed. However, both my companion and I believe that you’d be able to paint a far more detailed picture for us than what we already know.”

“Where to even start?” Pike scoffed. “A couple of months ago, I woke up to the sounds of my daughter, Anna, coughing. At first, we thought it was a simple chill.”

“We?” Lilly asked.

“Me and Ms. Ellie, our caretaker,” he replied. “In the days before, Anna had been… a tad too enthusiastic when it came to playing with the other kids. She’d come home drenched in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. So naturally, we just assumed that she had pushed herself a bit too far. We then called Ms. Paula, the town’s healer, to take a look at her. She gave Anna a small bottle of cough syrup, telling us to continue the treatment for a week. But then, as the week passed, her condition went from bad to worse… Her coughs didn’t lessen. On the contrary, as her fits became even more frequent, she also started to develop a fever. I then raced over to Ms. Paula’s, desperate to have her reexamine Anna. That’s when she changed her diagnosis from the chills to something that she called ‘the devouring fever.’ And that the only thing we could do, was to treat Anna’s symptoms by having her drink a Greater Health Potion every day, and to hope that her body would eventually fight off the sickness by itself…”

“With you so far,” said Lilly, leaning forward as she then placed her elbows on her knees, “but how does this lead to her extorting you?”

“Harkon is a mining town. Our local apothecary doesn’t stock Greater Health Potions since there is very little demand.”

“So,” said Lilly, “she offered to get you the potions in exchange for something?”

“Precisely… I bought the only three I could find and then I started to make preparations for a trip to Bord… That’s when she approached and asked me to do something for her in exchange for Anna’s daily treatment. But you must understand, me going around buying every potion I could find would have eventually left me with not enough coin to even feed us. As such, when Ms. Paula came and promised me a permanent supply of potions in exchange for my help, I couldn’t have refused her even if I wanted to…” Pike raised his head, meeting Drake and Lilly’s gazes. And as the two remained silent, waiting for him to speak, the graying foreman sighed and took a sip of his tea. “She said that if I could occasionally sneak in to tamper with some of the Waterstone shipments that the compound sends out, she would help me with Anna’s treatment.”

Drake raised his brow. “Tamper with them how?”

The foreman sighed as he brought his hands up to his temples. “She gave me an inscribed tablet and told me that all I had to do was to sneak into the warehouse and cast a spell using that tablet over some specific shipments… The spell supposedly shortened the life cycle of Waterstones, so that they’d deplete faster.”

“Seriously?” asked Lilly.

“I was just as confused,” Pike groaned. “But she explained that the organization who bought those shipments wanted their customers to burn through the stones quicker… And that if we helped them jack up their sales like this, they’d help me with Anna’s treatment, and fund Ms. Paula so that she could continue to look after Harkon’s less fortunate… A ‘necessary evil’ she called it.”

“Okay,” said Drake. “But how does that tie in with the Conclave?”

“A few weeks ago,” the foreman explained, “Ms. Paula came over for Anna’s routine checkup. Right after her brief examination, she jerked up as if bitten by a scavler, excusing herself and running into the adjacent room. And as she was about to close the door, I heard her talking to someone she called ‘your Reverence.’ I may not have travelled much in my day, but the only times I’ve ever heard terms like that thrown around were with people addressing either nobles of the Royal Court, or high-ranking officials within the Conclave. I think it’s fair to assume that a healer trying her best to make ends meet here in Harkon isn’t the sort of person to have urgent talks via Link Sphere to a member of the Royal Court… Nor have I heard of a healer struggling to make ends meet that still has a Link Sphere just lying around… Which only leaves one other option.”

“Honestly,” Drake sighed, “given everything I’ve heard, neither alternative sounds all that great.”

“Indeed,” Pike nodded. “But the Conclave never had a foot to stand on here in Harkon… the TCG saw to that. And they wouldn’t make a move like that lightly…”

Swirling the dark liquid inside her cup, Lilly eyed the foreman. “So how did you come to report this to the Guild?”

“Once I knew that the Conclave might have something to do with those shipments, I snatched a couple of the Waterstones to try and figure out exactly what that spell did. I tested the first stone. Its output. Its clarity and taste. Nothing. By all means, it seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary Waterstone. I left it at that for a couple of days until I decided to try my luck with the second one. And that was when our dog, Aslo, came up behind me, whining up a storm.”

The foreman’s expression grew grim. Shoulders trembling, he raised his head and wiped the tears that had formed around his shut eyes. “It was… too warm for such a late summer day. If only I had known…” Both Lilly and Drake remained quiet, allowing Pike to regain his composure as he drew in a deep, raspy breath. “So, when I saw Aslo outside, wagging his tail apathetically at me, I did it without thinking. I figured he was thirsty. And I had that blasted Waterstone in my hand. Next thing I know, I catch myself using it to fill his bowl. Sure enough, the big, dumb doofus starts lapping at that damn bowl of water, wagging his tail gratefully. All’s well and fine. And I get the same results with the second stone as well. But the next day, I find the old doofus curled outside the house, whining and trembling. Figured he ate something he shouldn’t have. I carry him in and roll out his old cot, asking Ms. Ellie to keep an eye out for him as I head off to the mine. Even then, he barks and comes to see me off like always. That was the last time I heard him…”

Drake looks down, unable to maintain eye contact with the foreman as he continues. “Might seem silly to some. Getting attached to an old mutt like that. But he was still family… Had him ever since he was a pup when my wife Jane found him,” he said, stifling a pained chuckle. “He was digging up her vegetable garden as if he had found his calling. And it was Anna and him that got me through when we lost Jane.”

“So,” said Lilly, her voice surprisingly steady yet compassionate, “you think Aslo dying had something to do with the Waterstone?”

Pike nodded, fiddling with the cup of tea in front of him. “Wasn’t sure at first, though. When I got home that evening, Ms. Ellie told me that he had started to cough up blood. Not long after… he was gone. Resigned myself to thinking that it was because of his age and whatever the hell he’d eaten. But then that got me thinking… Sure, he was an old dog, but how does a perfectly healthy old geezer like him go from happily frolicking in the garden, to coughing up his lungs within a single damned day? But I didn’t have to wait long for an answer: The moment I saw the healer walking through my damn door, I just knew,” he scowled as he intertwined his fingers. “Took me everything I had not to lose it in front of her while she was checking up on Anna. And as usual, she told me which shipment I had to tamper with next. That night, I took another Waterstone with me and, as I left the warehouse, I also grabbed a scavler from the pen.” Probably seeing the confusion on Drake and Lilly’s face, the foreman smiles. “Scavlers are small lizards. They normally live underground, but the company breeds them so that we can use them as a sort of warning signal down in the mines.”

“Let me guess,” Drake sighed, “the… scavler died after you made it drink the water conjured by that stone?”

“In less than a few hours,” said Pike. “Poor thing shrieked and contorted as if it was going to split itself in half.”

The chair creaked underneath Lilly as she leaned back, massaging her head, presumably in order to stave off a headache. “But didn’t you drink some of it yourself when you tested the first two?”

“That I did,” the foreman answered. “Honestly, I’m not sure why I’m still fine. My only guess is it maybe has something to do with my size and the fact that I only tasted it a little. That’s why I sent word out to the Guild, so that someone could investigate this properly.”

“I see,” said Drake, recalling the man’s initial question. “I’m not quite sure what to make of it either. What I can tell you, is that the Guild had already sent two Adepts over. But they lost contact with them the moment they arrived in Harkon,” he said, staring at Pike. “Can you think of anything that could explain that?”

The foreman blinked incredulously. “Something to explain why the Guild can’t get in touch with two of its members? I’m afraid not…”

“You mentioned that tablet,” said Lilly as she got up and placed her hands on her hips in order to stretch her back. “Can you show it to us?”

Scratching his head, Pike nodded. “I always leave it hidden behind a shelf in the warehouse. I’ll grab it tonight and bring it to you.”

A brief moment of silence falls over the foreman’s living room as Drake also decides to stand up. “We’ll also need a couple of Waterstones from that shipment, Mr. Pike. Also, to whom do we need to talk to if we want to get some answers about what’s been going on around town?” he asks. “Do you think anyone in the Craftsmen’s Guild would be willing to sit down to have a chat?”

“Well,” said the foreman, “I think your best bet would be to talk to Mr. Goldur, my supervisor.”

“Can we even trust him?” Lilly asked.

“Out of all of the dwarfs running this place,” Pike said, “he’s the fairest one.”

“The reason why I asked,” said Drake, “is because there’s a chance that the Adepts’ and the guards’ disappearances are linked to one another.”

“I understand,” mumbled the foreman. “Mr. Goldur usually stays up late in his office. If you go to the mining compound and ask around, I’m sure someone will put you in touch with him.”

The Master’s Task

According to the rumors floating around town, a group of Strangers hiding out in the woods surrounding Harkon could be the ones responsible for the disappearance of the two adepts.

Update: Thus far, the foreman’s story seems to corroborate your findings. Secure samples of the tampered Waterstones and get in contact with the foreman’s supervisor, the dwarf named Goldur.

Quest Difficulty: D

“Mr. Pike, one more question,” said Drake. “What are you going to do about your daughter? Once all is said and done, it will be a lot more difficult for you to get her the potions that she needs.”

“You’re not wrong,” he sighs, looking up to the stairs that lead to the second floor. “For now, I’ve managed to buy a few. I have enough stocked up to last me a little while even after I stop getting them from Ms. Paula. But apart from that, I hope that the Mages Guild will consider helping me out if my report ends up leading somewhere…”

****

Bane closed his eyes, listening to the birds’ chirp as the sun’s rays struggled to pierce through the forest’s shifting canopy. He could feel his heartbeat settling into a steady rhythm. The gentle autumn breeze sent a shiver down his spine as it ruffled the short fur on his cheeks, the feeling of having fur cover so much of his body still very much an alien concept. However, the heavy smell of blood in the air soon managed to snap him out of his brief reverie.

“Compared to those nightmarish mutts,” said Vala, yanking the head of her mace out of the ribs of a dead wolf sprawled at her feet, “fighting these things is a hell of a lot easier.”

“And not to mention a lot less scary,” Mia chimed in, seemingly fine with the sight of half a dozen predators laying dead all around them. “But wolves aside, we still haven’t found even a trace of those players.”

After having wiped the blades of his daggers against the fur of one of the fallen beasts, Bane sheathes his weapons, standing up so he can take a better look around them. “It’s a lot of ground to cover. Even if they are hiding somewhere around here, there’s still a good chance that we’ll just end up walking by them.”

“At least we’re close to level six,” Vala grinned as her gaze darted in front of her over what had to be her HUD. “I mean, we haven’t exactly been sitting around, twiddling our thumbs for the past few days. But, somehow, your pal’s still almost double our level.”

A chuckle escaped Bane, recalling Drake’s account of his trip with Roy. “Well… I think that much is a given when you’re practically forced to travel with a semi-sadistic mentor that then suddenly decides it’s a good idea to just pit you against a dungeon, pretty much all by your lonesome.” Seeing the taur frown and huff, he smiled. “Never knew you were that competitive.”

With a coy grin spreading over her lips, Vala straightens her back. “Occupational hazard. You either strive to be your best, or someone else walks over you.”

“Hey,” said Bane, “while we’re here, how about we have a little bit of fun?”

“What did you have in mind?” the taur asks.

“I’ve been meaning to try a couple of things,” he said, taking out his daggers as he turned to face Vala. “How about a sparring session?”

Surprised by his sudden proposal, the tall, black-haired woman takes a second to think. “You know?” she says, scratching her temple just below one of her horns, “that’s actually not a bad idea at all. We can go at it as long as we don’t actually take ourselves out, and Mia can just heal us afterwards.”

“Fine with me,” their blonde healer smiles. “And since this is a game, how about we make a bet? Loser treats the others to a free dessert at the inn!”

“Why stop there?” Vala grinned, a vicious sparkle in her eyes. “Loser buys everyone else everything: drinks, food and dessert! First to go below twenty percent losses. Best out of three. What do you say?”

Not fully thrilled with the way her friends’ spirits had flared, Mia sat down on a nearby tree trunk, resigning herself to the role of referee and medic.

****

Leaning against the damp, cold wall of his cell, the dwarf groaned, trying his best not to breathe in too deeply, lest he’d buckle over from the pain radiating from his ribs. ‘Take it easy Dhek… The Mages Guild has to know about what’s going on… Those two said it themselves… it’s only a matter of time ‘til the arrive to clean up this mess.’

As if to fly in the face of his words, a torturous scream jolted the dwarven prisoner up, the mere act of straightening his back enough to send a wave of agony throughout his battered torso. Teeth clenched, he somehow managed to stifle his groan as he then heard two pairs of footsteps making their way towards him.

“Blasted freaks,” he heard one dwarf grumbling. “If you go too quickly, they just disappear… And anything else doesn’t even phase them… And the few assholes that don’t disappear just to spite you… Give them two seconds and their wounds are gone. It’s like trying to grab smoke. Fucking hell…”

“Yeah,” said the second one, “but at least this way we send’em packing for a while. The boys can just pick’em up over by the town square once they’re back. Even so, the ones that do talk all say the same shit… Looking down on us as if we’re some sort of toys.”

They stop in front of Dhek’s cell, the first dwarf shooting him a toothy smile as his hand moves to rattle his mace against the door’s steel bars. “Well, if it isn’t the old softy,” he sneered, cocking his head back. “How’s your bachelor pad treating you?”

“Better than your sense of humor,” Dhek grinned, flinching slightly as he chuckled.

“You piece of–”

“Don’t,” said the second dwarf, pushing the other one back. “Khadar wants to have a word with him later.”

“It’s not like the traitor won’t be able to talk with a few missing teeth,” snickered the first one. “But fine… You hear that, Dhek? You’re lucky the chief still wants you around.”

An expression of sheer disgust washes over the face of the second dwarf as he looks at Dhek, the two guards leaving only to return to their previous conversation.

‘Hang in there… help has to be on the way… Right?’