“…and we can’t be sure about what commands he was given - he could be a danger to himself and others,” I said. Topher handed Teague to a couple burly gentlemen. “Make sure he can’t communicate with the necromancer in any way.”

Teague shot me a glare, to which I smiled. “Probably best to just leave the gag on,” I added.

“You sure he needs to be locked away for a whole week?” asked one of Teague’s new friends.

I nodded. “By that time, it should’ve run its course. Don’t trust anything he says or does until then.”

The gentlemen dragged Teague out, and that was that. “A week, huh?” said Kevin.

“We’re smart. We can do a lot in a week,” said Topher.

I let in a slow, filling breath, then noisily exhaled as I flopped onto the bed. “Wow, I’m glad that’s all over!” The tension melted into the mattress.

“It’s not over,” said Topher. “We still have a long ways to go.”

“Shut up,” I said. “This is the first good mood I’ve had all day. What just happened was a victory - we triumphed over the odds and got what we wanted. Outside of rescuing Marisa’s baby, nothing has felt like a win; things were either damage control or they left us with bigger problems. But this? This was a first step.”

Kevin perked up. “You know, you’re right. Things have been nasty lately. We should celebrate with alcohol.”

Topher looked at nothing in particular, his mind elsewhere. “I suppose I’m up for that,” he said finally, willing himself back to the present.

After a stretch, I stood back up. “You two go on ahead. I’ll check on Jenn and be right down.”

“But I was counting on your celebrity to get us drinks….” said Kevin.

Topher put an arm around him. “We’ll make do. See you in a bit,” he said.

We parted in the hall and I knocked on Jenn’s door. “Come in,” she invited.

She was still sitting up in bed, looking at the rainfall on the window. “How you feeling?” I asked.

“Stir-crazy,” she said. “My body’s sore, but I’m too awake to sleep it off. Really wishing I had a smartphone.” She looked at me. “You said you’d get me a book a couple days ago. Don’t suppose you’ve had any luck?”

I shrugged. “None so far. I’m sure they’re around, just haven’t seen a bookstore or anything since.”

“Maybe you could find one that talks about what makes people glow.”

“Ah. Kevin told you, then? Or were you aware when you were unconscious?”

She leaned back. “Kevin mentioned it. Where’s Topher? There’s something I wanted to talk to you two about.”

I pointed a thumb behind me. “Downstairs. The three of us were going to have drinks to commemorate… well, not being run out of town.”

She looked to the window again, then back to me. “Yeah, I’m not just going to sit here. I could use some food and beer.” She began moving out of bed.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t stay—whoa!” I caught her after she tripped on one of the blankets. “You okay?” I asked, holding back a snicker.

“I’m fine.”

I made sure she got to her feet, then helped the blanket off her ankle. “You know, I’m pretty sure you’re not clumsy so much as unlucky.”

She tensed. “My… character sheet, you called it? Would beg to differ.”

“Oh, what does it know?” I waved a hand. “Mine said I could be in the Cult of Personality. Let’s not put our complete faith in what they say.”

“Kevin said you convinced the entire town to turn against the guy trying to lynch us. That…”

“…Was more due to a spell than me,” I said.

She hummed with a knowing air. “Well, would you mind stepping outside so I could get changed?”

“You sure you’ll be alright? No vicious bed monster will attack your feet again?”

She turned me around and started pushing me toward the door. “I’ll be fine.”

I grinned. “See? Not that charming. There probably wasn’t anything I could do to convince you to let me stay, right?”

“Right,” she said, reaching around me to open the door. “Probably.” She gave me a quick shove and a smile, then slammed the door. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Alright,” I said into the door. “Just fall over and cause a ruckus if you need me.”

She banged on the wood in response. “If I have bad luck, it’s because you’re jinxing it.”

After a laugh constructed to be heard on her side of the door, I headed downstairs. The bar was quieter. I assumed most of the patrons got bored without me and Morris to put on a show and took advantage of the fluctuating cycle of rainfall to make a hasty way back home. The few that had stayed, however, smiled and rose their drinks to me. I waved on my way to Kevin and Topher’s booth.

“How is sleeping beauty?” asked Topher.

“Bored,” I said. “She’s sore, but doesn’t want to just stare out the window. She’ll be joining us once she’s dressed.”

“Better ask for another mug, then,” said Kevin, waving down the bartender. “She could probably use a few drinks.”

I tapped my fingers on the table. “So, you told Jenn about the glowing thing?”

Kevin shifted his eyes to me. “Yeah,” he said.

“How’d she take it?” asked Topher.

“She’s fine,” said Kevin. “There’s… more to it, but she should be the one to tell you.”

Being vague was unsettling. “Anything we should be worried about?”

He shook his head. “You’ll just have to wait until she wants to talk about it.”

“Then let’s change topics,” said Topher. “We’re heading back to Colme, right? What are we expecting to find there? Something similar to the cult outside of Woodsedge?”

I nodded. “Probably. I’m guessing there’s a connection, and following and uncovering that is likely the start of our main quest.”

“And what about the explosion in Woodsedge? Completely random?”

The thought of the drunk guy stumbling down the road came to mind. “What do you mean by random?”

“Do you think it has anything to do with our main quest, or what? I don’t really see the connection between the Ware abuse and that explosion.”

Kevin chimed in. “It did bring us to Minerva’s attention, and she eventually told us about some guy named Everan in Rikston wanting a meeting.”

Topher folded his arms. “Yeah, but is that ‘main quest’? I mean, we could bypass Colme completely and go talk with that guy. So maybe the Ware thing isn’t the main quest - maybe talking to Everan is, or even finding Brance Deralin - either way, we’d have to go to Rikston.”

“Well, maybe he wants to talk to us about the Ware,” said Kevin. “And then ask us to look into what’s going on in Colme.”

“Barring that,” I said, “Teague and Morris were sent to get rid of us. It’s probably best to nip this in the bud before it grows into something we can’t handle.”

Topher mulled that over. “I guess. Wasn’t saying we shouldn’t do the Colme thing, just trying to figure out priorities.”

I chuckled. “Well, Colme’s closest.”

Jenn arrived at the table the same time the second round of drinks did. “Hey guys,” she said. “What are we drinking?”

Kevin grinned. “Chilled beer,” he said.

Both of Jenn’s hands stamped the table. “You’re kidding me,” she breathed.

With a point to the pitcher, Kevin said, “Praecantatio. Try some for yourself.”

She did. “Oh my God, that’s so much better.” Half of it was gone before she came up for air. “Gold star, Kevin. MVP.”

“MVPC,” I corrected. Kevin just took a slow, triumphant sip. “And as a cleric, saying ‘Oh my God’ carries a lot more weight, doesn’t it?”

Jenn’s smile vanished. She looked to Kevin. “Did you tell them already?”

“No, not at all,” said Kevin.

Topher and I looked back and forth between them. “Uh-oh,” said Topher. “Something bad?”

Jenn set down her mug. “It might be.”

“Is it what you said you wanted to talk to me and Topher about?” I prodded.

She nodded. “I wanted everyone to get some drinks in first, but…”

“There’s no rush,” said Topher. “I’m more than happy to get very drunk if it makes things easier for you.” With that, he downed his mug.

I did the same. “To making things easier on Jenn!”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Kevin.

Topher finished pouring and raised his. “To making Jenn easy! Oh, wait, that came out wrong.”

We laughed at that—well, us guys did. Jenn only managed a smirk. “No, it’s fine. There’s nothing particularly horrible about it.” She looked at me. “So, you saw me glowing earlier, right?” I nodded. “Well, I think while that was happening, I was having a conversation with a god….”

She told us about her encounter with her deity. By the time she was finished, I was certain it would take a team of experts to unfurl my brow.

Topher spoke first. “So, he’ll become what you make of him? Or her, I suppose.”

“If I can believe what he’s saying,” Jenn nodded.

“Careful,” I said. “If he wasn’t lying, not trusting him could make him untrustworthy. Slippery slope.”

“Self-fulfilling prophesy,” said Topher.

“Did you tell her about the priest’s holy symbol?” I asked Kevin.

He nodded. “I think it might add some legitimacy, but can’t be certain.”

I looked back to Jenn. “How do you feel about him?”

She shook her head. “He’s just so… foreign. A talking light. He says he wants followers so he won’t be lonely, but they go hand in hand with power. And I suppose the stronger he is the stronger I’ll be, so it’s not like I really have a choice if I want to stay with you guys.”

I blinked a couple times. “That’s a fair point,” I said. “Do you want to stay with us?”

All eyes went to me.

I held up a hand. “We want you to stay, that’s for sure. But the three of us could handle things if we had to. Things are likely going to get more dangerous from here, and if you don’t trust your own power—“

Her hand clamped my mouth. “I appreciate what you think you’re doing,” she said, stone-faced. “But you can go to Hell if you think I’m just going to hide somewhere until this whole ordeal is over and a way back home is found.” She held my eyes with hers for a while before removing her hand and going back to her drink.

The bartender came up with another pitcher, saying it was from some guys at the bar. I smiled and raised my mug to them, and they gave a quick cheer back.

“So, Jenn,” said Topher when it was just us again. “You said it was nothing but light and a voice. Was the voice distinct in any way? Would you recognize it if you heard it again?”

Jenn shifted uncomfortably. “Actually,” she rubbed the side of her mug with her thumb. “The voice reminded me of my dad. He… died a while ago.”

“Really? He tried to sound like your father?” said Topher, disgusted by the notion.

Kevin shook his head. “That’s all kinds of manipulative.”

“Not necessarily,” I said.

“What, you think it was coincidence?” asked Kevin accusingly.

I held him off with a raised a finger. “Jenn, were you close with your father?”

“We… yes, we were.”

I turned back to Kevin. “Think about it. If this god is shaped by her, then isn’t it likely that his voice would become the one she most wanted to hear?” Then back to Jenn. “Sorry; if that’s a safe assumption.”

“It is,” she said, quietly. “And I should say it wasn’t exactly like my dad. Just... close enough to make me wonder.”

Topher hummed in thought. “So, the trick will be to figure out what kind of being he is. See what he wants to accomplish once he’s no longer ‘lonely’. Any idea of when you’ll talk to him again?”

Jenn shrugged.

“Well, when you do, maybe you should casually slip something into the conversation. Like how he feels about sacrifices, or something.”

I made a face. “How would she go about doing that?”

“Let’s see….” Topher took a ponderous gulp of beer. “Maybe something like, ‘We need more worshippers that can read, because they’ll be able to write bibles in your name. Problem is only the elite are truly capable of such fancy writing, and they’ve been trained from birth. So what we need are well-read babies—hey, speaking of red babies…’.”

There was a collective facepalm from the rest of us.

“...Something to consider,” said Jenn.

“Any thoughts on what kind of god you’ll make him?” I asked, steering the conversation away.

She shrugged. “No clue.”

“What if you made him out to be the ‘Super-God’, with power over all the others? If your imagination’s the limit, then…” I trailed off.

“No, no, hang on,” said Kevin. “He’s still fairly weak compared to other gods, right? You don’t want to do anything that’ll piss them off. You should also be sure of what all is covered in the current pantheon, so you won’t step on any toes.”

I harrumphed. “You’re probably right. I guess.”

“It can wait until you start having problems casting divine spells,” said Topher. “Speaking of, did you reach third level with the rest of us?”

She poured herself another beer. “How would I know?”

“I got a second level spell,” I said. “Do you have access to any more magic?”

“I think I can check.” She tightened a corner of her mouth and closed her eyes. We watched her for a moment. “Oh, wow,” she said, seconds later. “Yeah, I can do a lot more stuff. Make people tell the truth, cure diseases, paralyze people, make a permanent light, silence everything in a space - it’s about twice as many things as I could do before. Oh, I can use magic to find something I’ve lost! Please tell me I can use this when we get back so I can find my keys whenever….”

I watched her make the list, enjoying her excitement. “By the way,” I said, “how does your magic work?”

She frowned at me. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I cast spells by pulling emotions from my soul and doing stuff with that. Kevin—“ I stopped mid sentence, looking at him. “Actually, I only know how you do the Message cantrip. Is the rest of your magic the same way?”

“Kind of,” he nodded, then turned to Jenn. “Basically, I imagine this circle,” he closed his eyes and held up his hands. “With all these different patterns and symbols in it - each one means different things. The first level spells are… much more intricate than the cantrips. And intense. To get those to work, it’s like the circles become attached to my brain, which catches fire and ignites them.” He opened his eyes up and leaned back. “At least, that’s all that I got from the one non-cantrip spell I’ve cast.”

“Interesting,” I said. “Less sterile than last time.”

He smiled. “Yeah, but the cantrips don’t catch fire. They’re just like Message - speaking into the circle. Hardly any effort.”

“So what’s your’s like, Jenn?” asked Topher.

She gathered her thoughts. “I just sort of… listen.”

“To what?” I rested my head on my hands, ready for some serious thinking.

“Iamai, I guess? In the morning, I sit and focus on what magic I want for the day. It takes a while, but I’ll eventually hear this… whisper. Or maybe ‘whisper’ sounds like I’m giving it too much of a form - it’s more like white noise. But I focus on that, and I just sort of… start to understand how to do things. Then, when I want to cast a spell, I listen for it again, but instead I learn what to say, what to hold, how to stand. While I’m doing that I feel this warmth come over me. Sometimes the warmth bursts out, like when I cast Bless, or sometimes it focuses in my hands, like when I cast Cure Wounds.”

My foot started tapping on the ground. So I cast using emotions, Kevin had brain fire, and Jenn had warmth. “Wait,” I said, “where does the warmth come from?”

She shrugged. “I guess it starts somewhere around my heart, then goes wherever from there.”

“Where do the emotions for your spells come from?” asked Kevin.

“My soul,” I responded.

“And where is that on you?”

That was a good question. “Huh. I… don’t know. It feels like what I use to pull the emotions out comes from my mind, but as to where it goes… I just identify it as my soul. I don’t think there’s really a direction, or a place in three dimensions where it’s located.”

Topher slammed his mug down after finishing it. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t add to the conversation,” he said, reaching for the pitcher. “Uh-oh. Hey, barkeep! Another pitcher, please!”

“Still bitter about being a Champion?” I smiled.

“Damn straight. At least I’ll be the best when it comes to hitting things.”

Kevin cocked an eyebrow. “I’m guessing Eldritch Knight would use magic the same way I do, because they’re both intelligence based spells. I wonder if you can take the ‘Magic Initiate’ feat at some point - you’d get two cantrips and a one-a-day first level spell.”

“That might be good,” he conceded. “Shield could work well, even if it’s only once a day.”

“It doesn’t have to be a wizard spell,” I said. “You could take them from the Warlock list and get Hex - that’s extra damage every hit, and gives them disadvantage on checks for an attribute of your choice.”

The pitcher came. “Well, food for thought,” he said, topping off everyone’s cup.

“Oh, speaking of food,” said Jenn, looking up at the bartender. “What all do you have?”

The night progressed well. Thanks to Kevin being able to chill the beer (and it was beer this time, not ale), we managed to get quite a buzz off however many pitchers we ended up ordering. We talked, we laughed, we made merry. Eventually we started playing drinking games. For as terrible of a dexterity as Jenn claims to have, she’s an absolute monster at bouncing a copper coin into a mug. The high point of the evening (for them, not me) was when I accidentally swallowed the coin after a long swig.

“I’m calling it,” said Jenn, hours into the night. “You boys have fun.”

“Drink some water before you go to bed,” I advised.

She waved me off. “Oh, I’m not that drunk. I don’t suck at Quarters, unlike some people.”

Kevin headed up to trance a little while later, leaving me and Topher. “I’d ask if you’d want to practice the game some more,” said Topher, eyes unable to truly focus and head never quite able to stop rocking. “But we won’t have the funds if you keep swallowing them.”

He was far more than buzzed. I got us some water, and suggested we end the night. He took some coaxing.

I had to help him up the stairs. “I’m sorry you have to do this,” he said.

“It’s no problem.”

“And I’m sorry I couldn’t help with the magic conversation….” I was pretty sure that was what he said - it was awfully slurred.

“You’re fine.”

He leaned a bit too far one way, and I had to strain to keep him from plummeting down the stairs. “And it sucks that I couldn’t do anything to help you with that… that Morris guy you put down.”

I held him in place for a bit to make sure he stopped teetering before moving on. “Hey now, you did your part last night, fighting off those ghouls.”

He hiccuped. “Yeah, and you had to drag me to safety, right? Then you got to be the one who saves us from those guys. You and Kevin. I was just… useless today.”

“You’ve never been useless. You helped me interrogate that kid.”

“Like that little shit’s even worth mentioning.” He swallowed what I hoped was saliva before continuing. “It’s like, you go through life, right? And you think you’re the main character of your own story, right? Then stuff happens, and you start to think… what if you’re just a side character in someone else’s story?”

My jaw clenched. It was a thought that hit close to home. “I’m a bard. I tell other people’s stories - I don’t get to be the main character of my own.”

We were silent until I threw him onto his bed, at which point we said goodnight. I made my way back to my room, where Kevin was trancing in a chair. I fell into bed, grateful for the dreamless sleep.