Day 31 (S17-18)

Rina 26, 7 (5 of DI).

In the morning, they all got up and headed to the trees to treestride into Castle Frey. They arrived there mid-morning and headed toward the center castle right away.
Francis was waiting in the royal waiting room once again, "Ah, friends! Good to see you back, King Sullivan Frey is almost ready to meet with you."
"By the way, Francis," Alice started, "We changed our party name to The Bound. We wanted to make sure everyone knew."
"The Bound? Sounds fun to me!" he smiled awkwardly.
Rina giggled, "Same."
They all got to the room with the long table and throne on one end, once again. King Sullivan Frey was sitting there waiting for them.
"Come, friends," the King said, "Please sit - I see you have another with you?"
"Yes," Rina said, "This is Neely. She's our secretary, and our friend."
"Welcome, Neely," Sullivan said.
"Oh, um... Thank you sir. I mean, your highness," Neely said as she bowed.

"I have good news for you concerning your desire to Gain Citizenship in Pennislovica," Sullivan started, "You will have an opportunity to get land if you do a favor for me."
He then got up and walked into another room. When he came back, he was helping a small, elderly Druse woman walk to the table.
"This is my good friend, Rosa," he said, "Rosa, would you like to tell them your proposal?"
"Yes," she said, "I hear you are a powerful adventuring party. I want to die."
"You want us to kill you?" Aurelius asked.
Rina smacked him on the arm.
"Ow, what? She said we were powerful then said she wanted to die. What else was I supposed to think?"
"Maybe just wait for her to finish talking!" Rina.
Rosa continued, "I would like to die on the stump of the greatest tree in the Taste Tree Forest. I need someone to take me there."
"Where in the forest is it?" Alice asked.
"Oh. I don't know where it is," Rosa replied.
"Then how do you know it exists?" said Rina.
"My husband is the one who cut down the tree," she answered, "He cut down the largest tree in the forest for me. He is dead, and I would like to leave this plane in that place."
"We could get you there," said Kin, "between Scry and treestride we should be able to get you there."
"We could go see Therius first," said Aurelius, "We look for the Taste Tree Stump on the way. Then teleport back to get Rosa when we know where the stump is."
"We will talk about the plan later," said Kin, "We will take your quest. Right, Rina?"
Rina looked up, "Oh, yes! Absolutely!"
"You seem excited to be gaining citizenship here," said Francis.

"Yes, I really love it here," she answered, "There's a never ending amount of things to learn and do."
"We like it that way," Sullivan said, "we Three Fangs make sure to retain our rich culture from before the great war. It is why we insist on the blending for citizens, and we encourage everyone to participate in events like the Bloodletter contest, and other contests."
"What's the bloodletter contest?" Rina asked, "I'll do it, whatever it is - I love doing fun cultural things wherever I go."
"Then I encourage you to do it, too," said the King, "It is in just a few days from now. Everyone, even outsiders, are welcome to submit a sentence of love for the contest."
"A sentence of love? Like, what kind of love?"
"Any kind of love, anything that moves your heart. But it must only be a single sentence."
"You said it was a contest?" Aurelius started, "Does that mean there's a prize?"
The king laughed a bit, "Yes, there is a prize. The person with the winning sentence will get something from the ShapeSmithing shop, and 10 tickets to the Vampire Lottery."
"Lottery? To become a vampire?" asked Rina.
"Yes, one person per year gets chosen in the lottery to become Dhampir. It is a great honor."
"I don't know if I care much about the chance to be immortal," said Rina, "but I really need that Warlock Death Ring from the ShapeSmithing shop."
"The prize is not known by me beforehand," said Sullivan, "you will have to speak with Drake on the specifics."
"I'll be sure to do that," Rina said with a smirk.
"I'd be down to enter, sounds fun," said Alice.
"I'd give my tickets to someone else if I win," said Kin, "but something from the ShapeSmithing shop is always a good reason to do it."
"Then it's settled!" said Rina, "We will be sure to be here for it."

"I am tired," said Rosa, "I would like to go home. I hope to be headed to the stump very soon."
"I will escort you home," said King Sullivan, "Friends, please take your leave. We will speak again soon - I'm sure."
As the began to exit, King Frey addressed Rina, "You should know - Garrison Bolgroth accepted my proposal to establish trade with The Kingdom of Bolgroth."
Rina smiled and bowed slightly before she left with the others.

As the party left the center castle, Rina spoke up, "I'd really like to go to the post office and send a letter today, and maybe go to the ShapeSmithing shop to see what the prize for the Bloodletter contest will be."
"I want to get more spell components and some food that's good for traveling," said Kin.
"I also want to go to the apothecary and look for potions and stuff," Alice mentioned.
"Hey, um... Rina?" Neely piped up, "I'm actually... really tired. Is it alright if I just go to bed instead?"
"Of course," said Rina, "Just let the man at the front know you're with me and you can share my room - I already reserved one for the night."
"I'd like to go to the ShapeSmithing store again to see what the contest prize will be, and also to see if there's anything else there I want," said Aurelius.
"Well, don't go there without me!" Rina said.
"Let's all just to together," said Kin, "We're spending more time talking than doing."
Thy all ran their errands. Most of them purchased some Potions from the apothecary for healing, then they all purchased spell components from the general store.
"What are these?!" Rina asked as she pointed at some oddly shaped sheepskins in a cooler area.
"Those are contraceptives," said the store owner.
Rina blinked twice, "You mean..."
"They're called condoms, they're an invention of Pennislovica," the owner explained further, "The man wears them to prevent pregnancy."
"I'll take 10," Rina said immediately.
"That'll be 10 gold, then - 1 each."
"Absolutely sold," Rina responded as she handed him the gold.
"They need to be kept cold, though," he said, "I probably should have mentioned that before you go so many."
Rina looked at Alice, "Hey, Alice... can you put these in the bag of Colding for me?"
Alice rolled her eyes and opened the bag so Rina could put them in.
"Thank you!" Rina said with a huge grin.
"I'm going to need some pipeweed after this..." Alice said.
"Me too..." said Aurelius.
So Alice bought an ounce and kept it in her personal bag.

The party then went to the ShapeSmithing school to look for Drake.
"He is doing business elsewhere," his teaching assistant said to them , "but perhaps I can help?"
As soon as Rina heard Drake wasn't there, she turned to leave, "I'm going to the post office, I'll meet you all back at the Tunnel inn."
"We just wondered what the Bloodletter contest prize will be this year," said Aurelius.
"No one knows the prize until the contest is won," she said, "To be honest, I don't think even Drake thinks about it that much. It's usually something made by a student that cannot be sold in the shop."
"Didn't he say he only refrains from selling the work of the D and F students?" Kin asked.
The TA smiled, "That is typical of him, yes."
"So the prize is a piece of crap?" said Aurelius.
"Not always," she answered, "but it is rarely something anyone would spend money on."

As Rina left the Smithing college, she saw Ida leaving the library, "Hello, Ida!"
"Oh, hello Rina. You must be glad to know that two of the Fearsome 5 members are safe."
"Yes," Rina answered, "We're hoping that there's another still alive, too."
"I heard that they were staying at the Tunnel inn with their friends tonight," Ida said, "Do you know of the Salt Slayers?"
"Oh! Yes, they are the ones who asked us to look for the Fearsome 5 in the first place. They're all here?"
"Yes, go have a good time with them while you're all here!" Ida demanded, "Adventuring parties tend to scatter quickly, and friends are important."
Rina nodded and smiled, Ida locked up the library for the day.
"Forgive me for leaving so abruptly, but I have a meeting elsewhere" she said.
"Is that meeting with Drake?" Rina asked with a laugh.
"No, why do you ask?"
"He isn't as he Smithing college today and I wasn't sure if your 'meeting elsewhere' was also his 'meeting elsewhere,'" Rina explained awkwardly.
Ida smiled knowingly, "I can assure you, Drake's 'meetings elsewhere' are typically strictly business, or an excuse to be alone."
"Heh, ok, well... thanks Ida," Rina smiled awkwardly again.
"Have a good night," Ida said as she left.

Rina went to the post office to find a letter from her son had arrived for her.
She opened it an immediately began reading:
"Dear Mother Rina,
Thank you for the letter and location, I had not realized you landed in Kay’Lend until
recently. I heard of an elven woman traveling with a group of adventurers and had a
sneaking suspicion. You never seem to change, I suppose it’s the nature of being an elf.
Father’s blood runs thicker in me it seems, I am growing older, and praying to the ancestors that they grant me the wisdom that comes with my position. When you visit please seek me out, I could use the break from the politics of a blossoming nation.
On the line of politics, your move to influence the King of Pennislovica to open trade with Bolgroth has potential. Potential to spurn them into mobilization or to peace I do not know. They have been our enemies for as long as I have lived here, only the desert itself keeps them at bay, and only when their bloodlust is faint. I surely hope you know what you’re doing…
I am glad the vampires have found you and your company amicable, while I have not
met them personally I have heard many stories. Some I wish to remember and others I may choose to forget.
I am gladdened to hear of Gunther, he and I were friends through politics, each representing their people and with much in common. Wish him well for me and tell him
to come home sometime, his mother misses him and I am tired of explaining that we cannot use the magical resources of our city to teleport Gunther in for tea.
I hope this Drake knows of your wiles, father often recalled near the end of his life
how interesting it is to marry a person who will live tens of your lifespans, taking tens of
lovers, leading hundreds of lives.
Speaking of, I have great news for when you arrive, I would tell you now but I believe
it would be more interesting in person.
And I am not worried about dangers, for I have full confidence that between here and the Castle of Frey there is nothing as determined as you.
Best, Darrian Michaelis Deepcut"

With tears in her eyes she hugged the piece of paper close. Though some of the words he wrote did, in fact, cut deep, she was more than grateful to be hearing from her only son for the first time in years.
"He changed his name and everything..." she whispered to herself, "It's more like his father's name now, though...No longer Darien, but Darrian... like Sebastian."

Rina then met back up with the rest of the party and they all headed to the Tunnel Inn.
There, they saw Gunther and Marie with the Salt Slayers.
Rina ran up and hugged Marie, who hugged her back.
"So nice to see all of you again!" Rina said to all of them.
"Yeah, we were all just about to head to a bar in town to have some fun," said Alejandro, "want yo join?"
"Hell yeah!" said Aurelius.
"I'll go, too!" said Alice.
Rina and Kin looked at each other and shrugged.
"Yeah, I'd love to hang with you guys!" Rina said, "Which bar? The only ones we've been to here in Castle Frey are the bars attached to the inns."
"Oh, this bar is not like any of those bars," Alejandro said, "this one has... special amenities."
"Like...?" Kin asked.
Alejandro winked, then just began to walk away.
"We're really glad to see you all again," Rina said to Bex, Rivo, and Grunk - the three other Salt Slayers.
"Yeah, Alejandro is excited to see Alice, I'm sure," Bex said, "He begged us for days to burn one of the sendings from the paired Sending Stone we gave you. 'I just want to talk to the pretty little lady again' he'd say. We had to physically stop him at one point."
Alice blushed but didn't say anything.
"Alice..." Rina started, "That guy really likes you. Do you not like him at all? Not even a little?"
She just shrugged, "I... I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."
"Well start thinking about it," said Rina, "One of us aught to be having fun."
"So you go have fun with him!" Alice almost yelled back.
"He doesn't like me, he likes you!" Rina responded, "Besides, he's like... less than half the age of my son. It would be too weird."
"Your son is over 50?" Alice asked with disbelief.
"He's 73," answered Rina, "He's aging like a half-elf, which makes sense since he is one."
"Damn, you are old," Alice said.
"You have a half-elf son?" Rivo asked her, "I haven't seen another half-elf besides myself in many many years."
"Yes, his name is Darrian, he's..." Rina thought a moment before answering fully, "He's also a Therianthrope. He's the leader of the Cat Clan in Basta'Thrope'."
"Oh, and you came here to be with him?" Rivo asked, "My dad did the opposite. He basically abandoned my mom and I when I was young. My mom travelled to a far away continent many years ago and fell in love with an Elf. But he didn't want to invest time or effort into short-lived lovers or children."
Rina hugged her, "I'm so sorry to hear that," she said.
"I hope your son knows how lucky he is to have an elf mom who cares that much about him," Rivo said, "I'd give anything to know that my dad cares about me. If he travelled even a mile to see me, I would be ecstatic."
Rina and Rivo both looked solemn for a moment.
"I've always made sure Darrian knows he means the world to me," Rina finally said, "If your dad doesn't feel that way about you, then fuck him. You deserve for the people around you to love you wholeheartedly."
Rivo smiled as she saw the rest of the Salt Slayers play fighting and shoving each other as they walked down the street.
"Yeah..." Rivo started, "I think I found that with them. But..." she paused, "I know they will all die before I will. That hurts more than I can bear sometimes. I find comfort in Castle Frey, at least some people here live a long time."
"I feel the same," started Rina, "If you ever find yourself in Basta'Thrope', for, say, Gunther and Marie's wedding, perhaps - please seek out Darrian Michaelis. He is also feeling a similar ache, I think. Gunther is one of his closest friends, but he was not even born when Darrian got to this continent, and he will likely die before Darrian even begins to look old. I know he's feeling the same way you are, and I think you two might... well, you might find comfort knowing someone like you."
Rivo gave Rina an puzzling look for a moment, "Are you... trying to set me up with your son?"
"No, no!" Rina said, "Truly, I just think you would find comfort in friendship. I wouldn't do that - he can make his own decisions for his life. I'm not that kind of mom."
They both laughed and followed the Salt Slayers and the two Fearsome 5 members to the bar.

Back at the Tunnel inn, Neely walked in and asked the man at the desk to show her to her room. "One of my party members gave me this key, but truly I'd rather have a room of my own."
"You would like a room?" he asked, "We can do that for you!"
She paid him 1 gold for the room, even though Rina's room was already paid for, and he lead her to the basement.
"Here you go," the man said as he handed her 2 mushrooms, "eat these before you get started. Hopefully your stay won't be as long as mine was!"
"Oh, um... okay," Neely said as she ate them - not knowing what they were for.
"Goodnight, and good luck!" the man said as he closed the door behind her.
Neely looked around at the cave, "These rooms aren't as nice as I remember," she said to herself, "there's not even a bed."
Unbeknownst to Neely, she was doing the blending that evening.

It was just about nightfall when the party got to the bar, but it was no ordinary bar.
This was a large, open area - as far away from the center castle as one could be while still being within Castle Frey.
A man in a suit welcomed them at the door, "Good evening, are any of you planning to rent tonight?"
"Rent?" Alice asked, "Rent what?"
The man laughed a little quietly, leaned down, then whispered in her ear, "Me."
"What?!" Alice exclaimed.
The man laughed again, "Or another one of the workers," he gestured inside.
"Ohhh," Rina started, "This is a brothel!"
"Please, Ma'am," he said to her, "We prefer 'pleasure house' - and serving you is our pleasure."
"I'm, good. Thanks," Kin remarked, "Anything else to do here? If not I'm going back to the inn."
"Don't be so stuffy!" Alejandro said to Kin as he put his arm around Kin's shoulders, "There's plenty of games and drinks of you aren't into the real fun stuff!"
"What kind of games?" Kin asked.
"The kind that can win you money! Now come on!" Alejandro then dragged Kin along as he entered the pleasure house.
The man at the door laughed a bit again, then turned to the rest of the group, "Welcome to the Open Pearls!"
The rest of them entered to find many different tables where bets were being held. Some were card games, some were games with dice, along with many others. Not only was this a pleasure house, but it was also a casino.
"I bet you're looking for an old vampire guy to rent, huh?" Aurelius said to Rina.
She blushed a little, "Um, I actually hadn't thought about it..."
"What do you mean you haven't thought about it?" Alice exclaimed, "You're the one buying condoms and trying to get everyone else laid. Why not do it yourself so you can get off everyone's backs?"
Rina was taken aback a little by what Alice said. She looked around, and did see some attractive vampire men who were working, some of them very well could have been a century old or older.
But then she remembered Darrian's letter.
"...tens of lovers... I guess you never change... I hope this Drake knows of your wiles..."
Rina didn't answer Alice, but did not intend on taking advantage of all the Open Pearls had to offer after realizing how her son really felt about her old habits.

"Let's all play a game!" Alejandro said as he sat at a table with dice , "This table is for Liar's dice!"
"I have no idea what this is," said Rina.
"This is one of my favorite games!" Alice said.
"Everyone must pitch in 100 gold to play," the woman working at the table said, "Or an item of equal or more value."
"I'll do it, why not?" said Rina as she put in her 100.
Marie and Gunther each put in 100 gold.
"You cleaned me out at the last place," Bex said to Grunk, "Now all I got is this Golden Ruby Dagger to put into the pot. It's worth at least 100 gold though."
"And all I have is this Slate Glass," said Rivo, "But I know it's worth that, too."
Kin noticed that this was Oara SlateGlass - it even had the symbol of Oara on it. He whispered to Alice, "Can you loan me 100g?"
"Oh, I can't believe you want to play," she said, "Yeah, sure. I'll put 100 in for you."
The total pot was then 700 gold, a dagger, and some Slate Glass.
The teams went around 3 times playing, each team losing a player here and there. Rina could not play to save her life, so she was out nearly immediately.
Eventually it was between Alice and Grunk - the two best players.
"Whoever wins this round, wins the pot!" the woman running the game said.
Alice won with a believed lie, and scooped all 700 gold toward her. Kin grabbed the slateglass and walked out of the building without a word.

"So, at least some of this should go to the party fund, don't you think?" Rina asked Alice.
"Um, no. It's mine," Alice responded.
"But you wouldn't have any of it without the entire party participating," Rina said, "I understand you were the last one of the party still at the table, but all of the rounds were set up in a way for you to win because of work we all put in."
"Look, I'll give each of you the money you personally put in," she said as she handed Rina and Aurelius 100 gold each, "But I earned the rest."
"It wasn't earned," Rina said, "It was just a gamble you happened to win."
"Why are you so salty about this?" Alice asked, "I thought you didn't care about money."
"Money isn't my priority," Rina assured, "but it wouldn't be fair for you to pocket all of that if it was, say, a monster we all defeated together. At least some should go into the party fund. I'm not even asking for it myself."
"You want something to go into the party fund, you can put your own 100 into it," Alice said.
Rina sighed, "Can I at least have the dagger? It's not like you need it for anything, and I don't have a weapon like that."
"Fine, here's the dagger," Alice said as she tossed it to Rina, "Now leave me alone to smoke my pipe in peace."
"You don't think this is just a little selfish?" Rina asked as she was walking away.
Alice just smoked her pipe and didn't look Rina in the eye, or answer at all.

Aurelius, Gunther, Marie, and the Salt Slayers continued to have fun at the Open Pearls. Alejandro got kicked out for trying to cheat in a game, and saw Alice smoking outside.
"Well, hello pretty little lady - it is nice to be alone with you once again" he said to her.
She blew out some smoke and offered it to him, "I see you got kicked out. What will you do now?"
"Well..." he started hesitantly, "I was hoping to take you out."
"Take me out as in kill me? Or on a date?" she asked.
He laughed, "See, this is what I like about you. You are spunky! Please, let me take you for a drink somewhere nicer than this, eh?"
She nodded in agreement, putting out her pipe.
The two of them went out for drinks and had a nice chat, but, despite Alejandro's best efforts, "No, I don't really want to go farther with you" was Alice's answer.
"Ahh, I see," he said, clearly disappointed, "Well, then I'll be happy you came out with me at all!" He smiled, then they left the bar they were in separately.

Back at the Open Pearls, Aurelius spoke to Gunther and Marie, "So, what do you plan to do about your other friend?"
"Long Neck?" Gunther started, "We found out he was captured by the Drusk army and they are holding him."
"The two of us and the Salt Slayers are all headed down there tomorrow to try to get him back," said Marie.
"We are planning for a fight, though," said Rivo, "In case the diplomatic way won't work."
"You can call us with that Sending Stone if you need to," Aurelius said to them, "Rina would show up for any of you in a heartbeat."
"Thank you," Marie said, "That reminds me, we should head to bed soon. We have a long day tomorrow."
"Us, too," said Aurelius, "Let's all walk back to the inn together."
They all nodded and left the Open Pearls to go to the Tunnel inn where they were all staying.

Kin arrived at the Tunnel inn before everyone else, and immediately went into prayer to Oara, using the slateglass to focus on her.
"Oara, we are leaving to see Therius tomorrow," he said "is this the right path?"
Oara showed him a vision of Therius in his mind, and simply said the word "Friend" into Kin's mind.
"Thank you, goddess, that's all I need to know."
Kin then went to sleep early with peace in his soul.

Rina spent much of the night reading Darrian's letter over and over again. Unsure how to feel about some of the more scathing parts.
"All I want is to be a parent like I wish I'd had, or one like Rivo wishes she had" she said to herself.
She then wrote in her journal, and wrote Agronoch to update him - as she'd agreed to do in the Contract.
She detailed everything she had done concerning her research for Agronoch and their contract.
"Enoch,
After reading the Bolgroth Book from the Castle Frey library, I believe it is likely that Garrison Bolgroth is not the true heir to the throne of The Kingdom of Bolgroth.
I will be on my way to meet Therius, god of knowledge, tomorrow - maybe he can give even more insight on the bigger picture.
I have also recently learned that the Fingers of Luminus have special Finger's Weapons that can siphon the souls of anyone they kill to Luminus. While I don't know the details of what it means to rule part of the afterlife, I can imagine something like this would anger anyone who does.
Yours,
Rina."

Though this could obviously not be sent via mail, she got an urge from the Frost-Flame in her soul to burn the letter with Agronoch's magic. She does so, and feels like he very likely did, in fact, get it.

Day 5 / 14 of the 2 weeks of diplomatic immunity

Next: Day 32 (S18-20)