Sleeping Giants Game 34
Intro
Lyla's Repayment
As you and Jordan make your way into the Daryen Forest, night begins fall. You spent several days traveling through the mountains from Kittiwake’s Edge, and on the third day your raven returned. It was able to locate Max’s hideout, just as you asked it to. You are to journey toward Mur’Rideau and turn north right when the elven city comes into view. There is a small beaten path that will take you to your destination.
You are beginning to look for safe places to make camp for the night, not far from the entrance to the forest itself. And as you look around, you see an owl perched in a branch not that far above you. It is no ordinary owl, however. Its feathers are a brilliant array of greens and blues, and its eyes are lit up like bright candles.
As soon as you notice it, the owl launches itself forward and swoops down toward you. It glides between you and Jordan and begins making circles around you. You can’t help but follow the owl with your eyes, turning your head to watch it. As you do, its brilliant colors slowly drown out the greens and browns of the surrounding forest. Everything fades to grey, save for the owl, and a silence and stillness falls over the environment. Even your own horse has stopped moving.
The owl lands on the ground in front of you, and begins to transform. The light from its eyes starts to get brighter and brighter as it grows larger and larger, until eventually you have to shield your eyes for fear of going blind. The light subsides, and where there was once a brilliant-colored owl now sits a majestic bear, a single one of its paws larger than the owl it just transformed from.
“I hope I did not startle you, child.” the familiar voice of the Archfey emanates from the bear. “Owl never forgive myself if I did.” The bear smiles at you and seems to chuckle.
You pause for a moment, considering all possible responses before selecting the best one. “I can bearly believe you made that joke.” You’re proud of yourself for thinking of such a clever joke on the spot, and the Archfey chuckles as well, clearly impressed. “But uh, what are you doing here?”
“I asked a few friends of mine about the fiendish activity you were interested in, child. There is a definite spike in the presence of fiends on your plane recently. The spike seems to be concentrated on your continent, the neighboring kingdom does not seem to suffer from the same issue. Whatever the cause, it seems to be intentional. Perhaps some one or some thing is summoning the fiends for a specific purpose.”
“At any rate, it is my understanding that you are seeking out the Steingard brother. It is also my understanding that he has already left his hideout. He travels for Kittiwake’s Edge, searching for his own brother.” The bear glances over at Jordan, and then back to you. “You are sure to miss him if you continue on this path. If you return to the mountain pass, however, he is sure to pass by. There are not so many shortcuts there.”
“All this talk of brothers, however, reminds me… how is your brother doing these days, child?”
“He’s doing… well. He is back home in Kittiwake’s Edge.” you reply.
“Ah, that is wonderful to hear. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him.”
Concerned, you cut off the Archfey immediately. “What do you mean? Why would something happen to him? We had a deal, remember?”
“We did, we did. And speaking of our deal, I would like to… cash in on it. Collect on it, if you will. You see, child, I don’t have anything against the Steingard family. I do have something against their work, however. Particularly, the work of the man you’re about to miss.”
“Forget about Max. You two shall pass by, like ships in the night. For you see, there is something that he keeps in his hideout that I would like to get a closer look at. And it will be much easier to get a hold of if he is out of the picture. It’s a map, hidden somewhere among his belongings. Get this map so we may closely examine it, child, and we can consider our debts settled. Do you agree?”
You pause for a moment, pondering the implications of agreeing or disagreeing. “You keep calling me child,” you finally respond. “I’m 14 and a half years old though, I’m not a child! If you agree to instead call me milady, or my mistress, I will agree.”
The Archfey smiles. “Very well, milady. As you wish. I will be in touch once you have the map.” With that, the Archfey disappears in a flash of light, and the world around you moves once more. You hear wings flapping behind you, and turn around to see an owl disappearing into the distance.
