Valrym's "Help"

"So you want me to tell you, what I know about this guy named Travania because you bought something from him and you are worried its something bad for you."  Valrym was putting away supplies from a cart, I was doing my best to avoid any menial labor.

"Yes." He laughed.

"Right because we have such a great working relationship." He continued putting boxes away, I figured it was part of his annoyance that I wasn't helping him.

"Look if this is about to explode in our faces I want to know!"

"Our faces? Last I heard the last mistake was purely you and Nidgets, I want no part of this one." How everyone seems to know about my mistakes is beyond me.  I tell you its like there is some kind Trezlan Newsletter that goes around giving updates on ways I messed up.

"So he is dangerous?"

"I didn't say, frankly never heard of the guy, and I don't want to, you're on your own with this one Trezlan, try not to kill everyone ok." He slammed the door shut behind him and I scowled.  It appeared Nidget was the only one who knew about Travania and I had to ask the little bastard what he knew.  I know you're asking yourself "Why not just ask the guy himself?" Because that would be successful and thats not what I do damn it.

Travania'd Around

"Captain Therod a moment of your time." She was in her office, a cramped little desk near a lot of currently unoccupied jail cells (the one thing the Guard seemed really good at was making sure there were enough jail cells).

"Mr. Lorentino, I know that you think I have nothing to do, but I'm very busy keeping my records up to date, so unless you are about to kill everyone in the district I really can't spare a lot of time." She had a ledger out and was going through it line by line, I hate paperwork, I can only imagine its worse for someone who has to manage criminals.

"I need to know about a guy named Travania."

"Did he do something?"

"I don't know, maybe? He sold me something and I want to know about him." She looked up when I said sold me something.

"You think it was stolen? Was it a set of Medical Journals I just had a report about those being stolen."

"No its not medical journals, I don't think it was stolen, but I'm just leery."

"After the last thing you bought almost killed us all? I can't imagine why." Her sarcam stung, stung so badly.

"Look do you know about this Travania guy or not?"

"Yes I do know of him, no I do not know him to be a thief or peddler of cursed objects, there satisfied willing to go bother someone else?"

"Not satisfied but I can clearly see you are not able to help me, some Captain of the Guard you are!"

"I'll make sure to fully respect an ousted traitor to the Ronerawth government next time you swing in Lorentino." I didn't stay to protest how she labeled me a traitor (I'm a patriot damn it!) or how she even knew about that.  Cursed rumor mongering! I had another stop to make though I doubted Valrym liked me anymore than Therod, at least he sort of kind of owed me a little bit, somewhat.  I just want to repeat that I think Therod is a jerk and I hope that she doesn't expect my vote for Guard Captain should the position go up for a vote!

The Lost Art of Subtlety

"So I hear you have something very interesting for sale." Nidget hadn't even waited a damn day from when I'd gotten the ring from Travania before he was already implying he'd steal it from me.  I tell you its almost like Nidget isn't even my real friend.

"Several things, including this bone," I presented the bone it was human, I thought didn't know for sure, "I've heard this can ward off evil spirits, yet you are here so it must not be that good."

"Not some stupid bone Trezlan, the ring."

"Ring? I've got several, even got an engagement ring recently jilted lover very sad story, but a pretty ring, could cut you a deal." I was playing dumb, because tell you the truth was a little creeped out Nidget already knew I had it.

"Travania's ring Trezlan, how much?"

"It's not for sale and I'm really put off by how you know that I have it, its not cursed is it?" Everything is cursed, I've even seen an cursed outhouse, though that was probably just the result of bad cooking.

"No its not cursed, and I know he must have sold that ring because I know he's on hard times and he saw you, the ring is the only thing you would have bought from him, so how much you want for it?" Nidget seemed a little obsessed about getting what just looked like a shiny moderately expensive bauble.

"Nothing, at least not yet the Ring is in pawn he's got a month to pay it off."

"You know I was with him when he got that, so part of it is mine, so maybe you should..."

"Leave my store before you find out what burning alive feels like." I was forceful with Nidget, like a bad animal you have to be.  He looked at me with a squint and made his way out of the store.  I was now more interested in the ring since Nidget was, and also this Travania fellow.  I knew exactly zero about him, but I did know someone who would know more, unfortunately the good Captain and I weren't on great terms and of course she still held a grudge from the last time I almost killed everyone in the city.  I tell you some people!

Abnormally Weird

"You'll want to buy this." He was of course a weird looking guy, but even for me he was weird looking (which is saying something). He was cloaked, and masked, I could barely see his eyes but they were scary looking as well.

"I have a bad history with buying objects as of late." It looked like a normal ring, well normal except for the gigantic stone set in the middle of it, but nothing really weird inscribed on it, didn't have the feeling of hidden power or anything, just seemed like someones really pretty jewelery.  I was immeadiately suspicious (and not just because the guy trying to sell it looked like he came directly out of someones nightmare).

"I can cut you a good deal this ring is not stolen, I just fell on some hard times, in fact you don't even have to fully buy it, I can pawn it to you if you'd like." I don't like doing pawns, because well most of the time the stuff I have is stolen (I'm just being honest) and when the actual owners comes in and sees me selling something they had stolen, well I know I'm not getting my money back.  Much easier to flat out buy things and then sell them on the downlow as opposed to them being out in the open.

"Ok against my better judgement I'll take this pawn, you have a month to come back with my money plus interest or..."

"I know the deal thank you Mr. Lorentino I'll be back with your money."

"Whew."

"What?"

"I thought you were going to say you'd be back with what I'm owed and that would have scared me." He chuckled, but again he was seriously weird looking guy could have been any number of horrible nightmares.

"What will you do with the ring?"

"It'll go into a lockbox when you don't pay out, it hits the shelves, no mercy Mr. ?"

"Travania."

"You'll have to spell that." Now you know how I knew how it was spelled.

"I'll see you in a month Mr. Lorentino." He left, I felt a chill leave my store with him, though that could have just been an open window or a crack in something (look the construction of my store left a lot be desired). I looked at the ring briefly and then put it in my lock box and urged some magic into the runes guarding it (there is nothing I take for granted in this world, least of all actual money) and then forgot about it.  That's what it means to be a shop owner in my world, prepare for the worst, expect worse than that.  Wait thats what it means to be me in this world, I always get those two confused.

The Hours of The Day Go Round and Round

"So then I jumped off the top of the creatures mouth and lept straight into its gullet." I was at Valrym's Tavern, he was glowering at me from his position at the bar, but I was seated at a booth with Nidget and Andre and it was busy enough he could only just stare in dissapproval instead of being vocal about it.

"And you allowed this?" I had directed my question at Andre, he just shrugged his shoulders and continued drinking.

"So as I was saying, right down its throat I went!" Nidget and Andre had had a little trip of their own while I was out of town, I didn't share my story (partially because it dealt with Andre's church, partially because despite this lengthy journal sometimes I don't like telling people everything I do!)

"Sadly you appear to be no worse the wear." I finished my beer and Andre chuckled. Nidget gave me a nasty glare but continued on with his ridiculous story about slaying some kind of creature (as if you can kill something from the inside out...) As boring as the story turned out to be it was nice to be with people who talk with humor in their voice and who don't blatantly murder people without so much as looking at them twice (I mean we are all murderers don't get me wrong, we just aren't like Mordere). It was that return to normalcy that I appreciated.  Like everything else in my life things don't stay the same for a long time, and so I take what I can get before things go to shit again as they always do.

So I drank my beer and listened to Nidget's stories and thought if that night could go on for a couple weeks I'd appreciate it, but no things like that never happen.  Torture lasts forever, good times? They are but a leaf on the wind.

When The Ancient Comes Around

I'll admit this whole sleeping outside thing hadn't been working out for me recently.  I mean sure the coffee wake up with an assassin shoving a gun in my face was tolerable, but this getting drug into a cave to have my life force drained from me? Unacceptable. So needless to say before I drifted off to sleep I set up runes that would have stopped a god (well in theory I've never tested my runes versus a god yet). So it wasn't a big surprise that I was awoken by a creature that had tripped my rune.  It was a bit of a surprise when I saw the creature.

It was at first glance a woman.  Completely naked, though naked hear meaning wearing no clothes not that she had that many "womanly" features, there were the appearance of breasts but no female gentalia. Her "skin" was a bright green that was torn in some places revealing an oozing blackness behind it. She had no eyes or nose, but there was a mouth, her hair appeared to be some kind of twisted vines. From her labored breathing she looked to be dying, but not from my Runes.

"You killed us." The voice was like a whisper, which again spoke to the dying aspect her body showed.

"I did?" I admit I've killed a lot of things, so its not a huge surprise when people accuse me of having killed them, but I do get a bit mystified when things say that while they are still alive.

"You burned the body, you destroyed us, and we sought you for revenge, we have nothing left now, your trickery having hurt us again." The plant creature, or what remained of it, have to say that inside of it? Was a woman, very very creepy.

"You tried to kill me, I don't take kindly to that." I thumbed the leather strap holding my revolver in place off, I didn't know what was left of this creature after my rune had hurt it, but I wasn't taking any chances.
"We were ancient, you but a bug, no more than food for the form, food should not fight back against its master." I drew down and blasted her, black blood erupted from where the gun shots hit, a hissing sizzle filled my ears as the blood hit the ground and marked it. My horse now apparently just aware of there being something in our camp (useless creature) startled and let out a noise.

"Ancient creatures should learn to leave Trezlan Lorentino alone." The creature was dead but I had the line and I was going to use it damn it! I spit on the body. It oozed and the ground around it was becoming blackened and smelled foul the longer it decayed. Which made my decision for me about leaving early.  It wasn't like I wanted to stick around anyway.

And so my strange journey that started out by trying to help an assassin and ended up with me killing an ancient plant creature came to a close. I made Rosetia again with little trouble and I was very happy to see my shop had not burned down (there were some angry requests from patrons nailed to the door, but even those were welcomed).  I have to say I was glad my traveling was over for a bit, as I always am because it meant I could have some more time to screw up things locally!

Planted

I stumbled from the cave of reeking burning death into the cave of slightly less nasty smells (unfortunatley it was the only exit for the burning remains, so it too smelled awful). The cave was narrow and had a low ceiling but thankfully I was hunched over from being weak and trying to avoid the stench so I didn't hit my head on anything.  I was thinking at least I'd dealt with the plant creature stupidly until I exited the cave into a larger really wide open cave that had the bulk of it still (I should have known there was more of the damn thing since I hadn't seen the additional sucker helpers in my section of the cave, but I was tired and nautious from fumes!)

The creature was huge, just a large mulching cylinder of sucker tentacles and spikes.  I didn't see eyes, but as a plant I don't know if plants have eyes? I did see hundreds of dried out corpses lining the walls, tenatcles still sucking what little life they might have had left. Next to the creature itself was a sort of pit with a blackish fluid, in the fluid were bones that appeared to be in different states of decay.  Whatever else I could say of the creature it at least appeared to be thrifty with the bodies of its victims.

I thought for a moment I'd just let it go.  Let it keep mulching things and I'd move on with my life, but before I could even start on my way out of the stupid cave tentacles detached from dehydrated bodies and started to make their way towards me, which was not what I wanted. Ordinarily I'd just burn them, slice them, or run away from them (look I'll admit sometimes bit of a coward... I know you totally didn't ever see that before).  But instead I didn't have a fight or flight response, I had a "Oh crap oh crap oh crap" panic and stay in place response. Humoursly this lead to the tentacles all crashing into each other instead of attacking me (ha take that plant creature!). I took a guess and launched a small bit of fire (my super big display earlier on top of being weak put me way way to close to corruption town) at the pool of black goo underneath the plant and it ignited like the combustible fuel it had to have been (anything that can melt bone is most likely going to be flammable, most likely I mean there can always be some weird melty thing that is not susceptible to fire, but I doubt that).

The tentacles writhed in the burning agony and I made my way out of the huge cave as fast as my weakened body could carry me.  I realized someone in there might have still been alive and I just left them to die to smoke inhilation, but I've said multiple times I'm a terrible terrible person.  I did find my gear amongst a huge treasure trove of supplies near the mouth of the cave (from the looks of it the plant had been around a long time, I didn't take anything... that wasn't money I stole the crap out of the money). I was still pretty weak upon leaving the now smoking cave, but thankfully my horse had been left to graze there (probably for another meal for the plant creature at some point).  I mounted my steed and with considerable effort managed to leave the general area before finding a wooded area and passed out.  I still smelled awful, and felt worse, but I was alive and the plant creature was dead, well mostly... Look I have to leave you something to read tomorrow don't I?