The Wildemount Irregulars (2020)

Ah. Silent sits down and kneads his forehead with his fingers. Never put much store in the gods. Seems they're crueler than I imagined, leavin' your spirit hanging around here. I killed you cleanly, Jezto. The way your guards told it, most o' your victims can't say the same. Move on, find some sort of peace. You'll be haunting me either way. 

And as for vengeance? I've earned it many times over. It don't scare me. Just gotta make sure nobody else gets dragged down. 

The Gods are dead.  But I will pray to them if they will take me from this.... whatever this is.  Yes, you killed me quick, beast.  Think whatever makes you happy. Now, will you let me move on?  Or do you intend to keep me here, to toy with me?  Perhaps you are not so noble as you would like others to believe.

Perhaps not. After all, and Silent bares his teeth in a humourless grin, I'm still killing monsters, aren't I? And enjoying the bloodshed well enough. 

Anyhow, don't stay on my account. Give Asmodeus my regards, eh? 

Asmodeus would be a good choice indeed.  Know that I will be waiting for you.  Of course you are too stupid to understand the magic that holds me.  I suppose it is in the sword.  However, I am under no obligation to speak to you, dog.  Perhaps I will haunt your dreams forever.

The presence fades, but you are still faintly aware of it and you know that you can shut it out if you wish.  Your strange dreams turn to deep sleep, in the safety of the shelter you have constructed, and in the presence of a watchful friend.  Weird though this experience has been, you don't feel unnerved by it.  It feels like you have taken a step along your path.

You awaken in the morning having completed a long rest.  You have gained a greater understanding of your sword and the powers it possesses; in your inventory you now have the magical sword 'Soulkeeper', to which you are also attuned.

Magnum, you were undisturbed during the night, well-hidden and far from the road.

What would you like to do?

Magnum suggests cleaning up or masking the camp site as much as possible and get back on the road at a fast pace.

And you get underway.  You can talk on the road if you wish.  Are you maintaining a fast pace?

Silent agrees with Magnum's proposal to hit the road. 

An hour or two after the journey gets underway: 
Magnum, tell me something. In that last fight... did I do the right thing? 

I shot a horse to keep Jetzo from pursuing Solro. Who was probably also leading us into a potentially deadly conflict with his employer. I don’t believe I’m qualified to judge. 

Silent nods and says nothing else for a while. Eventually he gestures at his sword and says: In other news... you were right, this thing is chock-full of necromancy, it sort of exploded when I killed Jetzo. Traps souls in it, if you can believe it. Think the old Kryn warriors used to call 'em Soulkeepers.

Means I gotta wield it more carefully than ever before, but responsibility with magic isn't something I know much about. How did you end up becoming comfortable throwing spells around? I remember you mentioning one of your parents taught you those arts? 

Some of it I learned from an enchanter friend of my fathers’. She was...upset that Taryon would toy with the materials used in my construction. Oh, did I mention he didn’t fully understand the technology that makes me sentient? I can’t recall if that came up. Anyway, she taught me some cantrips as a kind of test. From there I started building tools that create spell effects. It’s not quite the same as a wizard’s magic, but it works for me. 

I’m only comfortable with my tools, to be honest. The wizard way has always felt slightly off. See here.

Magnum stops and ritually casts Find familiar. He takes the time to lay out the brazier, burn, chant and invoke the appropriate components. From the smoke flies a tawny barn owl.

This is Auspex, my familiar. I can’t summon him as easily or as frequently as a wizard could. It’s just too rigid for my tastes. Your magic, though, I suspect it’s more a part of you than just training. I think with time you’ll come to accept what works for you. 

There are no incidents on the road today.  You spend another night resting peacefully and resume your journey in the morning.

Are you maintaining a fast, normal or slow/stealthy pace?  

Magnum is fine with the fast pace.

15 14 15

This day is uneventful, like the others.  You spend another night, and the next day the road begins to turn northwards as you see ahead of you and to the left the southernmost tip of the Cyrios Mountains and the path that leads to the Wuyun Gorge.

In the morning of the next day, you come upon a halfling leading a tired horse slowly along the road; it is a dishevelled Solro, the halfling who had fled from the fight with Jetzo.  As you approach, he notices you and halts, looking nervous but also tired and hungry.  So.  You are still alive.  Should I be pleased, or afraid?

Jetzo is dead.  Does that affect your mood?

Not sure why you'd be afraid of us, seeing as we risked our necks to keep yours attached to your head. 

I suppose being afraid of us is reasonable. He was afraid of Jetzo, and you killed him pretty easily. 

Still, we're not really looking to harm you. I would like to ask you some questions.

I'm glad that you won't harm me.  Ask away.  The halfing continues walking slowly, forcing you to slow your pace to match his.

What did Lord Nefrayne want with me? 

The short answer is, I don't know.  The longer answer is that... well, I see four plausible scenarios. 

The first is that what I was told is true.  Lord Nefrayne wanted you to retrieve an item that was stolen from one of his employees by the sahuagin during a recent raid.  Your arrival in the city was noticed, and constructs are rare and known to be unimpeded by the need to breathe air.  

The second is that what Jetzo said is true.  Lord Nefrayne wanted rid of me, no doubt the hostility between myself and Jetzo served its purpose - he likes to keep his servants in conflict for his approval.  But in the end, he decided to allow Jetzo to kill me, and you were to take the blame - outsiders, a half-orc and a construct, the Zhelezo would probably cut you down before you had a chance to speak a word.

The third is that Lord Nefrayne wanted to possess you.  A talking construct is unusual, and one that seems fully intelligent and independent rarer still.  He likes to own things, and people.  

The fourth is that my former master wanted you for a purpose that I cannot guess at.

So, which do you choose to believe?

I believe that any information provided to either you or Jetzo should be treated with suspicion. What is guaranteed is that Nefrayne did not have my best interests in mind. Since even his servants were treated with contempt,and I could be no more than a servant even under the most optimistic circumstances, I should avoid the man entirely. 

Next question. What will you do now?