Session 2

Day ??? - Kleesaddle, the Rolling Oak Inn

Made it to town. Wish I hadn't.

The Firestormer led me straight into more complications than I've dealt with in years. Should have expected it. Nothing's ever simple when burnouts are involved.

About a mile out from Kleesaddle, the wolves started howling again. We were being stalked through the trees - caught glimpses of dark shapes, eyes in the shadows. Then Flynt's moon pendant started glowing. Blue light bleeding through his shirt, getting brighter as something approached.

Massive wolf vaulted over a rock and knocked Flynt flat. Expected it to go for his throat. Instead it licked his face like an old friend.

Luna. That was her name. And with her came Artemis.

Watching Flynt's face when he saw her was... unsettling. My new-met companions have seen him react to combat, to danger, to pain. Apparently they've never seen him smile before. Never seen anything close to tears in his eyes either. Whatever history they share runs deep. But seriously, who doesn't ever smile? Even I smile sometimes. Granted, it's usually over a well-deserved pool of blood, but still.

Artemis moves like someone trained for war but carries herself like nobility. Auburn hair, pale green eyes that catalogued each of us in seconds. Longbow ready but relaxed when she recognized Flynt. Another moon pendant around her neck, same as his. Order of the Moon Goddess, he mentioned later. Dangerous thing to admit in Primus's empire.

She'd been tracking something across the Spine. "The creature," she called it. That doesn't seem to be real helpful to anyone besides Flynt, but I guess it's good to know I'm not the only one in the dark (heh). The thing that destroyed that settlement, left all those bodies stacked like cordwood. It's moving with purpose now, not just wandering. Worse - it's recently started caring about things other than its destination.

Aristandros sent her. Some quasi-divine druid the party met in whatever other dimension they visited. He's been investigating some kind of rot, dark energy infestation. Same corruption we saw in those shadow wolves, I'd wager. Too many connections for coincidence.

Flynt changed around her. More talkative, more... human. Told her things about the party saving his life, about falling into other dimensions, about Roth dying and coming back. Information I wouldn't have shared with a stranger, no matter how much history we had. If I'm being honest, though, I'm glad he did. It helps to know all I can about this group I've fallen in with. Can I trust them? Maybe, maybe not, but it's stuff like this that I'll need to know to be sure either way.

Artemis headed for a tavern called the Switchback Rest to meet some contact. We went to the Rolling Oak Inn that Swanger recommended. She promised to find us later tonight.

The Rolling Oak (or the Rolling Poke as we began calling it) itself was decent. Best place we've been since this whole mess started. Dwarven stonework, good ale, the kind of establishment where you can actually relax for five minutes. I was kind of disappointed, based on the nickname, not to find an attached brothel. Not that I would have, but it seems to fit the joke.

Anyway, it was nice. Peaceful. Should have known it wouldn't last more than a few minutes.

Aluni knew the barkeeper - Oscar, from her home territory. Friendly enough, but when she mentioned being close to her exile radius, I noticed a gnome in the corner take interest. Not the good kind. Flynt spotted it too. Sharp eyes on that one. We tried the diplomatic approach first - went over to talk, see what his problem was. Talk, yeah. Just... "talk".

Fenwick Cogspinner, his name was. Regular at the place, apparently from Aluni's neck of the woods. The way he looked at her, the way she went pale when she saw him - there's history there. Bad history. He pulled a knife, started sharpening it while staring daggers at our gnome friend. Not exactly subtle.

But he's not the only one with a knife, and mine is fancier. The Fang has some interesting properties. Most people get freaked out when it disappears on the up-toss, only to appear again in my hand for the next one.

Diplomacy was never going to work on this one. Flynt tried his best with the talking approach, but Fenwick wasn't having any of it. The guy just told Flynt to "piss off" and kept sharpening that knife. So Flynt tried intimidation next. Didn't go much better - he's clearly more comfortable with a crossbow than with threats. That's when I stepped up and made it clear that his little pig-sticker didn't impress me much. The knife tricks with the Fang definitely got his attention, even if it didn't make him any friendlier.

Some people only understand one language, and it isn't conversation. Fenwick had enough, stormed out. Should have been the end of it. Then the dwarves showed up.

The rest of the party recognized them immediately - the same crew they took the egg from. The dwarves had some kind of tracking pendant, and it led them straight to Roth, the egg-carrier. The old one demanded his egg back. Roth tried to talk his way out of it, offered to be searched, the whole innocent act.

Didn't work. They put a musket ball through his water glass as a warning.

That's when things got interesting.

Combat in close quarters is always messy. The gunner had range on us, but Flynt got the first shots in before they could coordinate. Two bolts center mass - good hits, but the dwarf stayed standing. These mountain folk are tougher than they look.

Roth tried to cold-cock the old dwarf with his shield but got blocked on the first swing. Connected on the uppercut though. Drew blood. The dwarf wasn't happy about that.

I went for the flanking approach - got in close to one of the gunners while Roth kept the leader busy. The Fang found its mark twice, plus a palm strike to the jaw for good measure. Master Kael's training served me well, even managed to redirect an axe swing back at their own ally. Funny how muscle memory works.

But the real show was our artificer and our warlock.

Aluni threw some kind of acid concoction that caught three of them in a line. Watched them start melting and writhing - effective, if messy. Then Zarael touched the ground and sent shadows racing across the floor toward them. The darkness wrapped around the dwarves like living tentacles, squeezing and restraining.

That's when I realized she wasn't just another warlock. The way those shadows moved, the eager hunger in them - that's not normal shadow magic. There's something else there. Something older and more dangerous. It made me think of the corrupted energy we saw in those wolves, but controlled. Deliberate.

She ducked under a table after casting, smart move. Keeping herself out of the line of fire while her spell did the work.

The dwarves tried to fight back - one ranger managed a good shot on me despite Roth's protective aura which, by the way, I was surprised to find out about. The others wasted time trying to scrape off Aluni's acid, which effectively kept them out of the fight for a while longer. But the dwarves were outmatched. Shadows don't let go easily.

All the patrons fled screaming. Can't blame them. Oscar dove behind the bar, muttering something about "this always happening when she's around." Interesting comment about Aluni's history.

One drunk at the bar slept through the whole thing. Respect.

But the real question isn't whether we'll win this fight. It's what comes after.

These dwarves tracked my companions across dangerous terrain using magic. They know the party has the egg. More importantly, they know the group took it from them. That suggests this isn't some random stolen goods - there's something significant about that egg.

And we still don't know what my Burnout was doing in this area. Haven't had time to investigate with all these distractions.

The party continues to surprise me. Zarael's shadows are more dangerous than I initially thought. Roth takes hits for the team without being asked. I have solid instincts for reading a room and good fighting discipline. Aluni... well, my money says Oscar was right about things happening when she's around.

Starting to understand why they work well together. They cover each other's weaknesses. Watch each other's backs. The kind of thing Kael always said was important - "A shadow stands alone, but even shadows can benefit from other shadows."

Still thinking about Artemis showing up. That wasn't coincidence. She's tracking that creature of Flynt's, and it led her here. Same direction I'm heading. Too many threads converging in one place.

After we finish with these dwarves, I need answers. About the egg, about the creature, about why Firestormers are crossing the Spine now that Marcus is dead.

The chain continues. But it's getting more complicated every day.

Need to end this fight fast and get back to work.