As the suns crossed the zenith, the party followed Ulrin to the Elder’s Lodge. In an earlier day, this was likely one of the more ornate and impressive building in the small village. Now, it was a rundown shadow of its former self, with planks broken or missing from the front decking, and the roof looking like it couldn’t hold back much more than a light rain. It was reflective of the village itself, a picture of decay and death. Ulrin asked the party to wait outside for a moment and went in.
Even at midday, there was a haze that seemed to thicken the air, making it feel heavy and oppressive. It was only moments before the door to the lodge opened and Ulrin motioned for the group to step inside. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, they could see the interior was draped in tapestries, now soiled and tattered from lack of care and time. This shafts of light cut from holes in the roof cut through the dusty air, partially obscuring the view of the opposite side of the room. and in one of these shafts sat an older man.
Ulrin made the introductions. “This is Irion, elder of Kerran. Elder Irion, these are the individuals I spoke to you about.” The elder looked up at them and motioned for them to come and sit. As the group took their places in front of the Elder, he spoke.
“Please understand that I do not represent the entire group of Elders. In fact, I am alone in having an interest in hearing what you have to say. Our village has been greatly diminished by the blight brough tby outsiders, and trust is scarce and hard won. Young Ulrin came to me because he knows that I am th emost open to outsiders, but I must advise that does not mean I trust. He says that you might have an interest in assisting us.”
Agnese spoke first. “Elder Irion, we can see that something terrible has happened here, and that your village has suffered. We would like to assist, but we need to know more. Ulrin has mentioned that the village seems to have been cursed by an individual, a Zorander Umbra.” The Elder shrank at the name, leaning out of the light.
“That name. Yes, he brought this devastation to our village, to our people. We were once proud artisans. I rue the day that monster entered our lives.” The Elder spoke with a combination of sorrow and anger. “He brought this on us because we would not give him what he wanted. Other Elders wanted to make the deal, but not enough to make the decision final. Perhaps if we had taken the offer…” His voice trailed away.
Beivalur attempted to comfort the Elder. “Elder Irion, you did as you saw best for your people. There can be no regret in that. This blight upon your village is not of your doing. This is an act of malice upon you. If we can help to rectify this, we would be honored to do so.” Agnese shot Beivalur a look. That was far more generous an offer than Agnese had intended. Beivalur continued.
“Can you tell us of this yellow powder which was found in your mine?”
The Elders eyes narrowed. “Why? So you can try to steal it yourselves?” His voice had turned angrier, suspicious.
“Elder Irion, we apologize, we meant no disrespect” said Ninette, working to defuse the situation. “We have no desire to take the yellow powder. From what we understand, it is dangerous and deadly. But knowing more about it might help us understand what Umbra might have wanted with it, and why he was so angry about your choice.”
The Elder’s face softened slightly. “My apologies. Our losses have hardened us and made us wary of strangers. But you are correct. If you are to help, you must have more context.”
He continued.”The yellow powder was found in a deeper section of our mine. We had never seen anything like it, and frankly, had no idea it could be dangerous. But when miners who had been in contact began growing ill, weak, and eventually dying, we knew we could no longer risk any more lives. So we closed off that section of the mine.”
“When Umbra came, he offered first to buy as much of the yellow powder as we could mine. We felt it was too dangerous if it was something that even our best miners could not identify and process. So instead, he offered to buy the entire mine. The price he offered was great, perhaps too great, but it was enough that many of the elders were seriously considering selling, as it would have allowed most of the village to retire. But it also would have meant giving up claim to one of the richest blackglass deposits ever found, as well as some additional mineral and gem veins.”
“A few days after Umbra had come, Hargus Hurryhouse came to buy some of our blackglass wares, as he was known to do once or twice each year. He was told about the yellow powder, and he reacted strongly. He felt that the powder was dangerous and there was no way it should be in the control of someone who might have an ulterior motive. Ultimately, we agreed, and decided we would not make the deal.”
“When Umbra returned a week later, he was angry that we had chosen not to make the deal. One of the Elders mentioned that Hurryhouse had agreed with our decision, and Umbra went mad. He hurled insults at all of us, and said we would regret not dealing with him. He returned a few days later, dressed elaborately, wearing a dark cloak. He stood in the middle of the village and cursed us, and began waving his arms. As he did, a mist began to rise from his fingertips and a fog began to spread across the ground. He continued cursing us, and started walking around, spreading the mist and fog.”
“He continued his wild ranting, then suddenly just stopped. He slowly turned in a circle, and began to smile. He then shouted ‘You will pay!’ and there was an explosion where he stood. And when the smoke cleared, he was gone.”
“Within days, the crops and plants in the village began to die. Shrubs that had survived for a century simply withered, browned, and died. Food crops would not grow. New seeds would not germinate. As time passed, the blight spread to trees, and in some cases, to wildlife who tried to consume what plants were left. Rumors about our town began to spread; some would say we were cursed, others refused to trade with us, believing we carried a deadly disease. Out sources of income were cut off, as were supplies to survive. Our villagers began to die from lack of food and from succumbing to disease in their weakened states. Others left, but insisted they would not tell people where they were from, to avoid being ostracized. What you see now are those few who are left. We still cannot grow anything, and the world outside of this village believes we are gone. And I fear that soon they will be proven correct.”
The Elder’s gaze fell as he seemed to be suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. He looked at his hands. “I did everything I could to save them, All the Elders did. But it was to no avail. We lost friends, family, loved ones. I lost my beautiful wife. I watched her wither away, unable at the end to even raise her head from our bed. We have lost so much…” The Elder’s voice trailed off.
A deep silence followed, as no one wanted to intrude into the Elder’s obvious grief. It was the Elder himself who spoke again.
“So, you can see why we are wary of outsiders. We trusted one, and because of that, another destroyed us. “
Beivalur spoke for the group. “Elder Irion, we are indeed moved and saddened by the story. We ask nothing of you, but the opportunity to help if we can. What do you know of this Zorander Umbra?”
“Very little. He had been seen around Orsholon City the last few years. In fact, one of the reasons we followed Hurryhouse’s advice was that he said he knew Umbra and that Umbra should not be trusted. I don’t know if Hurryhouse was right, but there is definitely an evil about Umbra. Only someone truly evil would have plagued us with this blight.”
“And what of the mine?” asked Agnese.
“We don’t dare go near it. This blight has killed enough of us. The road to the mine has been overgrown by brambles as you near the mine. I know no one who has approached it in the last five to ten years.”
“Odd,” replied Ninette “but why would things grow there but not here. The blight was very apparent when we approached the village. It seemed to go on for miles. Why would brambles grow there? And why did Umbra want this mine so badly?”
“I do not know.” The Elder shook his head. “At this point, it does not matter. Our village has been decimated and we are forced to steal just to survive. Young Ulrin has been doing what he can to sustain us, but it will eventually end in his downfall. We do not know of any other solution.”
Courtenay was looking agitated. “I really want to find this Umbra guy and take this out of his hide!”
Beivalur gently placed a hand on her forearm. “First, we need to help these people. They cannot survive much longer if the situation remains as it is. Elder Irion, may we call on you again if we need more information?”
“Yes. Simply tell Ulrin to find me. I don’t know if you can help. But if you can, this village will be indebted to you.”
“Then we should take our leave from you. My friends, we have much to discuss. We should return to where we lodged last night to consider our options.” Beivalur looked around at the rest of the party. “Are we in agreement?”
“One more question, Elder,” Agnese interjected. “What else did Hurryhouse tell you about Umbra?”
“He was vague, but said he had run-ins with Umbra in the past, particularly in Orsholon City. Umbra had apparently been expelled from the Uskkalu School for Magic Arts due to some type of unpleasantness; Hurryhouse was not specific. But he gave the impression that Umbra had violated some rules about testing with alchemical ingredients. Beyond that, only that Umbra may have come from the northern part of the continent, beyond the Rinzeremel Mountains.”
“Thank you Elder. We shall do what we can.” Agnese turned back to the party. “Beivalur is right. Let’s go discuss our next move.” And with that the party thanked the Edler for his time, and made their way out of the lodge. The sunlight, filtered through a haze, nevertheless seemed harsh and blinding as they exited the darkened building. As they stepped off the deck in front of the lodge and onto the village street, Ninette asked a simple question. “Why did Umbra want that mine so badly? Particularly the yellow powder? If it’s that dangerous, what would he want with it? If he truly was expelled from Uskkalu, this adds another level of concern to the matter.”
Before anyone could answer, a shadow passed over the group, and overhead, a silhouette appeared for a moment, then vanished.
“What? We all saw that right? Tell me we all saw that!” Courtenay plead with her fellow travelers. “I didn’t just imagine that!”
Agnese confirmed her suspicion. “I saw it too, just for a second. The shadow it cast was huge, but when I looked up, I saw… something… then it just vanished. It almost looked like…” He hesitated.
“Like a dragon”. Beivalur finished Agnese’s thought. “Yes. I thought the same. And it just disappeared. I believe this is what we have all seen over the last few days.”
“It’s like it’s following us…but why would a dragon follow us?” asked Courtenay. “That’d have to be a HUGE dragon, and I don’t know of anyone that has seen one that size in a very long time. It would have to be hundreds of years old. And we would have heard something about a huge beast by now.”
Agnese nodded. “She’s right. I’ve never heard anyone mention a dragon that big, unless it was some drunk in a tavern. Something odd is going on, and I don’t like it.”
“Perhaps. But we just told these people that we would help them if we could. We need to focus on that.” Ninette wanted to bring the focus back to the task at hand. Let’s get back to the house we stayed in and discuss it.”
After a quick meal, the party began discussing their options. Beivalur drove the discussion. The plight of these villagers had sparked memories of some of the struggles the Mosae people had fought through after the Cataclysm. He felt a form of kinship with the Kerrans because of their hardship.
Ninette, on the other hand, was more interested in this Umbra individual. She made it a point to know as much as possible about underworld and dark figures, yet knew nothing about him. And what did Hargus know about him? Is this village why Hargus didn’t want his name used?
“What is so special about that mine?” asked Agnese. “What is in that mine that Umbra would want it regardless of the dangers? That yellow powder sounds like some nasty material. You would have to want something in that mine very badly to risk it. There are gems there, but not enough to warrant that kind of danger. They could always tunnel in from a different direction.”
“Maybe it’s not the gems. What if it’s the yellow powder itself?” Courtenay seemed to have a theory. “What if he needs, really needs the yellow powder? I don’t know what it is, but he’s got a bad reputation. I studied at Uskkalu. People always spoke about him in whispers, like mentioning his name might summon him. But no one I know thought he was particularly skilled with magic. In fact, the stories are that he was awful. It was part of the reason they threw him out. The stories say that he was trying to create some kind of potion or salve that would enhance magical abilities in himself. He never understood that the abilities were already in us. He didn’t want to learn how to access them. Or if he did, he was really bad at it.”
“So, things keep pointing toward the mine. These people need that mine for the goods to trade. Umbra wanted that mine badly. It angered him enough that he cursed this land. The yellow powder, though deadly, seems to have drawn a considerable interest. I don’t think we have a choice but to go to the mine.” Agnese seemed to have set his mind to a plan.
“I can lead you to the mine, but I won’t go in,” said Ulrin.
“That is understandable, young Ulrin.” Beivalur could easily see the young man’s reticence. “Leading us there would be sufficient. You need not endanger yourself further.”
“What do we do when we get there? Just walk on in? I mean, we’re not miners, and I don’t want to get near that powder.” Courtenay had a point. If none of them knew anything about the yellow powder, why go to the mine? “I’m up for adventure, but I’m not really sold on getting myself killed just out of curiosity.”
“Ulrin, was the area with the yellow powder marked off? Is there a way to enter the mine without approaching it?” NInette asked. “If we can avoid the yellow powder, perhaps we can see if there is a way to revive the village’s trade.”
“You shouldn’t need to go near the powder. It’s at the back part of the mine and sealed off. You’d have to want to touch it to even get to it,” replied Ulrin.
“I like your thinking Ninette. If we can get back into that mine, we might be able to get this village started at recovering. It’s too late in the day now. I suggest we rest and make our way to the mine in the morning. Ulrin, you’ll lead us there?” asked Agnese.
“Yes. But only as far as the entrance.”
“Then it’s off to the mine at first light.” And with that Agnese and the rest of the party began a night of rest to prepare for the followng day.