As night descends and our heroes grow tired, they decide to call it a night. Royal suites within Castle Aida for their honored guests, King Terofin (along with his aide Orbod) and Triumvir Qaplowski, lay waiting for their arrival. Earl, a Knight of Roam deployed by Everlong, easily has access to similar types of lodging. Before turning in for some quick shut-eye, they decide to meet over a nightcap and discuss the note given to them by Turok.
Deep within the castle, the group takes comfort in a lounge type room within one of the suites. Warm, clean stone covers all walls and floors with a hefty wooden door securely closed. Tapestries in bright red and blues hang from up high while elegant, wooden carved furniture provide very comfortable seating. An extravagant bar, which seems to run almost the entire length of one of the walls, gleams with bright colors and glittering refractions of light from the ample fire light. Without hesitation, the entire party pours themselves drinks of varying flavors and gets cozy.
Qaplowski, quickly downing a bright red, cinnamony drink, gets right to it. “To rise out, evade extreme outer water. Go straight towards lost heaven. This may mean, instead of following the killer's path, go towards paradise. Paradise is another word for heaven and it's not really that great of a place.. hence lost heaven. Evading extreme outer waters would mean don't following the coastline? Go inland. And to rise out? I just didn't know where to put those words.” She quickly bursts into a tired laughter. “Pretty good my lady, I like where your head's at!” Orbod enthusiastically quips. “May I ask how you would start deciphering a puzzle so quickly?” “I have a way of categorizing things; in this case verbs, nouns, and the such. Very similar to how I categorize what parts of my enemy to disarm and what to dismember.” A large misty cloud of a very strong ale explodes from Orbod’s mouth. “Indeed! I imagine that’s quite the mental exercise…My lord! My lord! Have you any immediate feelings towards this “riddle”?” “Not now Mr. Zagovor! I’m very focused on this task at hand!” as he’s seen mixing various drinks into a large, jeweled chalice. “Tell me, what jumps to you in those texts?” “Well (ahem) my lord, my gut does tell me my lady is on the right track. Clearly there are directions to a type of location. Her phrase “evade extreme outer water” rings in a manner as it should. Evading something, perhaps of dire nature as to arrive safely to the destination. And Heaven… while clearly metaphorical, it must reflect something beautiful or of a higher elevation.” Orbod is still hurriedly cleaning himself and surroundings of his spat drink before Terofin can turn around and witness the mess he made.
“Why don’t you stop scratching your fleas Earl and help us out here!” Qaplowski yells after a few more cinnamon drinks. Earl lets out a snarl, “Fuck off Qaplowski! You know I’m the most helpful here and I’ll give it when I feel the time is right.” Terofin makes a snazzy twirl around to start walking towards the group, proud and excited for his concoction. Orbod is widely staring at Terofin, still very unsure on how to handle himself based on Earl’s response to Qaplowski. “C’mon boys and girls, no need to fight! We have a whole night ahead of us! Besides, just because Worldender now exists doesn’t mean it’s going to IMMEDIATELY show up! Let’s pace ourselves.” Earl, gulping a very strong drink that gives hints of raspberries, gives a disapproving look to Terofin. “You know how these things escalate. And then I end up losing an arm!” “Hey you got it back! We made it out of all those situations, we’ll do it again! Aye??? Cheers fellas, drink up!”. The group clinks their drinks in communion.
Terofin gets comfortable and begins to mull over the words. Over and over he reads them, mouthing each one as if he’s about to yell out the answer. “These words…. Something feels very familiar about them.” He thinks of all his traveling and studying of his youth; as if the words are parts of a larger picture. “Map…. I feel like something in these words here should be part of the map. Mr. Zagovor! Fetch me my map post haste!”. Orbod nods and guzzles his drink while in stride. Earl reappears, in human form with another drink, and stands over the notes. The group wonders how he managed to transform without them even noticing. He tilts his head, tilts the other way, then pulls his head back. “Perhaps you’re all looking at this too closely; too literally. Maybe it doesn’t say anything. The words could be a code” Orbod lays out the map for Terofin but quickly shifts to Earl’s words. “Yes, anything is possible. But how to start to decode such a thing? I wish I had brought my ring….”
Our heroes continue to discuss Turok’s notes, hoping against hope that time is on their side but working as if the end is nigh. They will need to rely on their wits and experience to gain any knowledge regarding such evil. At least the drinks are plentiful and the atmosphere is soothing. Till next time.