The Rune Stone

Stone

The ascent to the top of the tower where the lady resided was jarring, the pressing atmoshpere getting increasingly worse with eatch step the company took. The loud gurgling and splashing of water upon the cobbled pillars of the bridge was almost gone, only silence reigned. Kralich took a deep breath before he gave a series of three quick knocks on the solitary door at the end of the flight of stairs. No answer came. He knocked again and waiter. Nothing. Eventually Torstein pushed him aside and opened the door, getting rather tired of all these delays and setbacks in their journey.

The circular room was dark and the air stagnant. No windows were open or even uncurtained, a massive wooden table, lit by a solitary candle in the middle, was the single visible object within. A pair of spindly, boney hands pertuded from the darkness and a hoarse voice spoke up. "Come in. And shut the door." it commanded. The lady's face could still not be made out from the darkness, no matter how long they tried or how close they would get. It was as if a veil was pulled over her face, shielding it from unwanted eyes. "You wished to have an audience with us, lady Stonebridge ?" spoke Kralich in an eloquent and polite tone. The figure coughed, a dark liquid hitting the stone of the floor somewhere in the dark. "You seek the stone. I've seen it. And you have the exile with you." it said and Varonno instantly felt a veiled gaze upon him, it was cold and hard. "Good. Good. It is as prophesied." it finished before retreating its hands in the dark once again. "What do you mean, how do you know any of this ? These are private matters." Kralich protested, getting increasingly tense. "Do not worry Dark...Mane. I will let you be on your way. The string of fate must be left untouched, let it run its course. I am meerly a spectator in all of this. Watching, and listening. Making sure it stays on that course." the voice responded "Then let us through and be done with this charrade of yours. You know the importance of our quest aswell then. It is imperative we get there first." the mage continued. "Oh. You will, you will. But all of you need to make it. Not just 'you'." the voice would say, accentuating the last word. It then paused briefly but it felt like an age of man for the party, before it spoke again. "You may go. But I would like a word with the exile first. Be good boys and wait outside for him." Varonno exchanged a few glances with the rest before nodding and being left alone in the room with Lady Stonebridge.

After a few minutes the rest of the company was outside waiting for their last member. Shadow was growing agitated, pacing up and down by the keep door, ocasionally letting out a bark. None of the group dared interrupt him. "What do you think she wants with him ?" asked Torstein finally breaking the jarring silence. "Porbably a toss in the ol' hay, don't imagine she has much going on up there, eh ?" retorted Nicholas with a slight chuckle. The mage did not laugh. He seemed more tense that usually. Fidgeting even. "What's the matter with you ? You've never been this jumpy before." asked Nicholas, taking note of the silence and pacing of the man. "She's a witch ! Left unchecked. Ofcourse I worry. Who knows what she will do to him up there ? Put a spell on him, have him turn on us when we get close to the stone and then take it for herself !" responded the mage. "Don't get your robes all in a fuss. Varonno will only go half the way with us. Remember ? He wants to get home. And even so, I trust the man. He got us out of some pretty nasty situations. Even went along with us to take on them river pirates.Felt good about it too, I think." continued Nicholas. "River pirates ? What the hell did you lot do on the way here ?" quizzed Kralich. "Long story, good for a campfire tale though. So you'll have to wait for that. Point is: He won't go all turn coat on us. Of that I'm sure. He's noble blood. Maybe she wants to arrange a marriage or some s**t. Now that he is back in the country." answered Nicholas as he sat down on a crate, testing the string of his bow, twisting it tighter until it made a sound like a lute when struck. The mage took a deep breath, closing his eyes and murmuring something unaudible to himself. Torstein decided to have himself some luch, even sharing some of it with Shadow, his way of trying to calm the beast down. And to his surprise, and everyone elses : The wolf accepted, even allowed himself to sit next to the old barbarian, wagging his tail ever so slightly. "Hey ! Look at this. He never did this before. Remember when you tried to give him so dried pork and he almost took your hand Nicholas ?" asked Torstein visibly excited by the act. Nicholas laughed slightly. "Piss off, you old fart. That dog just knows good meat when he sees it. He went for my hand because it would have been better than the dry meat. Makes sense no ? Everyone wants a piece of handsome Nick here. Even the hounds." retorted Nicholas who was backed up by a bark of agreement from Shadow who was muching on a piece of cheese. Torstein chuckled slightly. "Only dogs want a piece of you, you mean. I didn't forget you getting slapped by that tavern wench." the barbarian would say.

The company must have waited for Varonno for about an hour, time in which Kralich grew increasingly restless, up to the point he was ready to bust in to the keep once again. Which he did end up doing, only to bumb into the ranger descending the stairs. He seemed to be alright. Nothing changed about him, aside from the contemplating look he had about him. And a slight smell of incense stuck upon his cloak. It made the mage take a few steps back. "You done then ? What did she want ?" he asked Varonno. "Nothing. She wanted to talk to me. About my father, the girl I loved, me in general. See what kind of man I was back then, and now." answered the ranger. Kralich looked at him long and hard, only to be met by an equally measured look back. In the end the mage nodded and they both headed downstairs to the rest of the company. 

After a rather short and late breakfast turned lunch (a second one for Torstein) in the courtyard of the Neck. Under the ever watchful eye of the guards the company left on the back of horses, graciously granted by lady Stonebridge, much to the gratitude of the barbarian whoose leg was still worse for wearing, being force to hobble around like an old man with a axe for a cane. He made this clear enough when he was force to go up and down the stairs of the castle. The cobble stone road northwards was large and bustling with activity, the people here wearing much thicker clothing, appropiate for the harsh weather and the coming winter. This time however,  the company was lead by Varonno, who after his descent from the tower of the lady of the Neck was rather silent and thoughtful, seemingly a mute guide for the rest, only commenting on the direction they should take, and where the next best tavern was. This must have went on for the rest of the day, about five hours of travel, until the sun was setting and they consulted wether or not to camp or find a tavern. At the insistances of everyone who had to brave the wilds and sleep by the side of a river, Kralich agreed to have the party rest at an inn, provided they keep the secrecy of their quest to themselves. Thus, after a few more minutes, under the guidance of the ranger, on a side road, paralel to the king's highway, the party found themselves at 'The last drop' , a rather shady, but quaint bar that doubled as an inn aswell, according to Varonno. Inside a roaring fire was burning in the stone hearth across the way from an empty bar where a sage-looking dwarf greeted Varonno like a long lost friend. They talked for a while, serving a round of drinks to everyone from the party on the house. But the rooms where payed in full, in accordance to dwarven tradition, who likes coin more than anything else. Thankfully for Kralich, aside from a group of halflings and a caravan of elven traders that kept mostly to themselves, the place was rather empty, thus any loose mouths from the party could not spill anything even if they wanted to do such a thing. A few times the mage attempted to prod at the ranger, trying to find out exactly what Stonebridge had told him, but every time, he would be rebuted or have the question avoided with a generic, non-specific answer. Eventually this led him to give up and retreat to him room for the remainder of the night. Torstein and Nicholas on the other hand, who had grown quite fond of eachother, even though neither would have admited it at the time, shared drinks and tales long into the late night. Exchanging backstories, what led them to where they are, common interests and brags. They at one point had joined the half-lings in their merriment, drinking and singing songs so pleasant that even Varonno could not help but humm and clap along with them, managing to take his mind off of the troubles that illed him and the inevitable anxiety that came with being back in old places and seeing familiar faces. While most of his time was spent with the bar keep, getting up to speed with what had been going on around the place while he was exiled and also giving him explanations on how he was back, but keeping the goals of the mage he was guiding about a secret for now, the ranger also found time to join Nicholas and Torstein for a singular drink, right before retreating for the night himself, still hearing the hoarse laughs of the barbarian and the boisterous cheers of the rouge as he closed his eyelids in his own country for the first time a long while. He was finally getting home, he was going to see her again. After all this time, he hoped she was still the same...