Teresa's intermezzo

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In the land of Sormark the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups:
the NPCs, who just live their lives, and the PCs, who generally ruin their lives.
These are their stories....

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Well, it's the story of one of them. Following the 'success' at the roadhouse, Teresa could not go on a treasure hunting adventure. She decided to repent and help out in the Silverwick Ward instead. The following snippets are a look in her adventures when the rest of the party was hunting booty on an island.

1 - The Book

After waving the party off on the ship Teresa head back to the Silverwick Ward to help out. She spend a part of the day doing small chores and talking to some patients, then she had a long conversation with the head of the ward, an old Dwarf named Thigrolum Greymane. He picks her mind and senses there are better things she can do. Paying penance here isn't doing her any good.
There is an old bookshop in the city, The Booknook, she should inquire about the old faith and tell the owner he send her.
That same day she rushed to the bookstore. She remembered the books of Aldust she lost in The Dig, and how she hadn't been able to get a hold of something similar.

The Booknook seemed to be squeezed between buildings, barely a little more than a door wide Teresa had little hope to find something of use here. A small bell rang as she opened the door and she peered into a 60 ft long corridor with a bookshelf on the right. The books all neatly lined and perfectly clean on the shelves.

Walking the corridor she ran her finger across the books looking for something of interest to her. A cough pulled her from her search as she was halfway through the corridor. "Please don't touch the books. I take great care in keeping them clean."
A neatly dressed man stood beside her, completely blocking the way with his large posture. His clothes would have fit at some point, but now the seams struggle to keep the fabric together.
"If you know what you are looking for I can help you, I don't like people browsing. Follow me" he says as he wrenches himself through the corridor. Teresa gingerly follows him.

The corridor ends in a large room, filled with shelved and neatly sorted books. A spiral staircase is in the far left corner, a desk on the far right. The man sits behind the desk and gestures widely "Welcome, to the Booknook. How may I help you today?"
At the mention of Greymanes name he jumps up, nearly lifting the desk with his belly.
"Ah yes, Thigrolum send word. I know what you are looking for, follow me. And please keep your hands to yourself..." He murmurs joyfully and Teresa picks up his name, they call him the Shy Baron apparently. She wants to ask why, but it's hard to interject the waterfall of speech. She follows him and they take the staircase down two levels. The lower levels get a bit smaller each time.
The air gets noticeably colder and a bit damp. Shelves are now lined with small boxes and chests. He pulls out a small stool and steps on it to reach up high on a shelve. Teresa wonders the stool must hold some structural magic to hold the weight of the Baron. He collects the chest and moves to a small table.
"There was a world before the world of today. Some things got lost and some new entered the world." The box opens with a click and he pulls out a small tome.
"And some things never change, perhaps only get a new name".
He hands Teresa the book, it looks to be in pristine condition. Roots line the cover, in the place of the title is an empty space.
"We're not sure about the age of this book, and it will probably not give you the answers you are looking for. But it will help you on your way."
As they head back up the stairs the Baron talks on end and Teresa wonders why he's called shy. When she finally gets a word in and asks about payment he slaps her on the shoulder. "Thigrolum says you've paid a fair price already. However, we do take donations" and he presents a jar shaped like a pig on the counter. Teresa pulls some gold coins from her pouch and puts them in.
Talking freely the Shy Baron follows Teresa out, he hands her a Booknook bookmark just before she leaves. "Do tell your friends about us when they need something special".

2 - The Amulet

Back at the placeholder inn Teresa eats a simple meal and is off to her room.
She opens the window and with a gentle breeze the sounds of the city roll in.
Her mind wanders as she thumbs through the book, it's gorgeously illustrated and a drawing of pine trees bring her back to Ranna Amethystall. After Aldusts death she was the first person she could really talk about druidism. She learned a lot on the way back to Korint. Sadly they had to part but Ranna gave her a pendant to continue her journey.
Teresa has played with it, meditated on it and attuned to it. But the lock for the key the pendant was supposed to be she never found. If hung by a string it would point north, but Teresa was not sure how that would function as a map.
A tiny bit frustrated she put the book down and set the amulet on top it. The moment the amulet touches the cover the room falls completely silent. As if the noise of the city is drowned out by the silence of a an open field. Carefully she picked up the amulet and the sounds came rushing in again.
This just might help her on her journey.
That night, after she put Blemmigan in his box for the night she sat down on the floor, wrapped the amulet around her hand and started reading. In the deafening silence it created she read until sunrise.

She read about about Druids in olden times, how they formed circles and protected land, sea, or desert. Some even lived underground. Some of the tales resembled tales Ranna told her. Tales of druids who protected and guided nature, or focused on the discovery of species, like Naeslin's Pupils.
Judging by the written tales and what Aldust and Ranna had told her this book is almost certainly post-collapse and she finds it more than a bit confusing Aldust never mentioned the different circles.

When she turned in for bed Blemmigan was lightly snoozing in his (or her, Teresa still didn't know) velvet lined box. A piece of parchment lay on her bedsheets. As always in impeccable handwriting, a poem:

All you who sleep tonight
Far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right
And emptiness above -

Know that you aren't alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,

And some for all their years."

Thinking of her adventuring friends her mind wanders asleep. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed behind.

3 - The Poet

A distant clatter of plates and rumbling of people woke Teresa from her slumber. A piece of parchment stuck to her cheek as she got up.
In impeccable handwriting the title of the poem read "Touching tiger's balls"

Reached through the bars that had a little give
What are you doing? Don't you want to live?
Tiger was my friend
Still it was the end
He tore me up like I'd been through a sieve

Another of Blemmies poems. She stuffs it in her pouch and stumbles downstairs for dinner.

She eats her breakfast in silence, contemplating what she had learned last night. It seemed the amulet wasn't the key to the book at all. Neither did she get visions, in fact she had a nasty dream about losing her friends in a dark cave. Perhaps the amulet is more of a physical key? The book wrote about root dens, chambers made right under a tree for Druids to seek refuge for a night or to meet. Apparently the first of these root dens were made by Naeslin himself.

Teresa is pulled out of her pondering by a piece of parchment falling in front of her; 'Breakfast' the title says.

A dinner party, coffee, tea,
Sandwich, or supper, all may be
In their way pleasant. But to me
Not one of these deserves the praise
That welcomer of new-born days

She chuckles and when she opens her pouch to put the poem away a waterfall of parchment pieces pour on to the floor. She quickly gathers them and sits back down.
"This is amazing!" She hears a man say next to her.
"Did you write this? It hit's me right in the soul!"
"Well, uh yes" Teresa mutters and she feels a jab in her neck. And she reads the poem in his hand:

the porcelain chalice
stands proud and tall
collecting gifts
from any and from all
mounds of brown
and streams of gold
a stinking privilege
it has been told
to pray
to the porcelain god

"Would you please sign it for me? Sign it for me, please lady with the moustache. I'll frame it!" Taking the small pen from Blemmy she signs the poem.
"I've got an autograph from the lady with the moustache!" he shouts and runs off.

"What was that about?" Teresa asks Blemmy. "Lady with the moustace?"
"If your poems are so good, maybe we need to make a book out of it. I can be your ghostwriter if you like."
She feels another prick in her neck and heard a chuckle from her hood.
When she finishes her bread she sees her reflection on the steel plate, Blemmy drew a moustache on her face while she was asleep.

4 - Inspiration

After doing some work at the Silverwick Ward Teresa heads to the park to meditate for the rest of the day. Sadly there was little peace and quiet as The Inspirations are doing a sound check in the pavilion for a show later today. This band of Bards is all the rage at the moment. But for a moment Teresa thinks about going somewhere else to meditate.

Luckily she brought the book and the amulet, when she put the amulet on the book all the noise washed away.

The chill of the evening sweeps through the park Teresa picks up the amulet and the sound of the world returns to her. Lots of people have gathered and under the dancing lights of the pavilion The Inspirations are rocking their set: "So go ahead and talk shit, talk shit about me, and go ahead and talk shit. About my p-p-restidigitation!"

When she walks past the crowd she sees a familiar face, the poem man.

"Hey... HEY!!! It's her! The lady with the moustache!" He runs up with another fellow by the arm. He eyes her up and down "Hmm, somethings is different about you...

Then he shouts "Lady! You should meet my friend! Your poetry is amazing, you should publish it! My friend here makes books! Show him something!"

Teresa hesitates, but a growling Blemmigan convinces her and she pulls a random poem from her bag:

Laughing orcs spill

their ale as they talk tall tales

and toss daggers at worn bark,

remembering when they went to battle

without their clothes on.

They both read the poem and Teresa sees a tear well up in the mans eye. He hands her a card. "If you have time, visit me tomorrow and we can talk business." And they are off into the crowd again.

"Well Blemmy, looks like we are going to be famous."

5 - Pressing matters

Teresa looks up from the card and at the building. "This is the place Blemmy"

The large white plastered building has few features, there are large barn doors and the small wooden annex has a sign that reads "Pressing Matters". When she enters she is greeted with a few tables of books and a till. Probably the shop.

Seconds later a man wearing a leather apron scurries in, he has a loupe on his head and his hands are greasy.

"Yes! It is you! Come, follow me!" Teresa follows him into the workshop. It's large and three huge machines are lined up in the center. Workbenches line the wall on one side and on the other giant rolls of parchment and books.

"My name is Willhard Pressing. I own this printing workshop and we make books, the modern way! You see, where monks can print about 40 pages per day, one of my machines produces up to 3600 a day! That's a lot more books, and a lot less sweating monks!"

When they finished the tour thought the factory floor they went back to the wooden annex and sat down in a small office.

They go through the poems and make a selection. Pressing had his assistant write up an agreement. Teresa would receive a small fee and royalties. She made the royalties go to the Silverwick ward to provide a little income for the ward when they leave Stjordvik. Her mind wanders to her friends, how they are doing and how that crazy dwarf is fitting in.

In the dark of her room back in the Placeholder Inn suddenly her bedside candle lights. Her eyes need a moment to adjust and she sees Blemmigan furiously waving a match in order to put it out. He gets back into his box and she hears him scribble. New poems no doubt. The book has been a great motivation for him to write more. Or is he a she, Teresa still doens't know. And with that question in mind she slowly drifts to sleep.

==== 6 - The tallest tree is rooted in the ground ====

Tesresa has been doing small jobs at the ward and after a morning assisting with cataract surgeries she is off to the fields again to meditate.

She went to the park at first, but the fields made her feel at home. Perhaps some melancholy to her life as a kid.

Here she didn't need to use the book and amulet to create silence, and she quickly lost track of time meditating and thinking.

The white clouds in the sky made room for grey and a blanket of rain swept over the fields.

This is somethng she hadn't felt in a long time. As a kid she liked to go out in the rain. She especially loved the thunder. Though she wasn't allowed outside then. She used to stand in the doorway, or look out the window.

Meanwhile, Blemmigan got tired of the rain and had climbed in his velvet box.

A flash and crackle brought Teresa back from her meandering. She realised she couldn't stay out here in the field and doubling back to Stjordvik would be risky as well. The edge of the woods was much closer, so she picked up her stuff and made for the woods.

Catching her breath under a tree she was treated to a spectacular thunderstorm over Stjordvik. Looked like she was about to spend the night in the woods. Then she noticed two things. The book somehow didn't get wet. Rain ran right off it. And her amulet did something it had never done, a part of it emitted a faint light.

No matter how the turned the amulet, the light always pointed the same direction. Without thinking twice she walked in the direction of the light and it didn't take much for the amulet to be lit completely.

The tree she stood in front of now looked inconspicuous enough, but it was older than the trees surrounding it.

She sat down underneath it. It didn't seem the rain was about to stop and she was a bit disappointed she didn't bring anything for shelter.

Then her eyes fell onto a hole in the ground. Hidden between the roots was a badger hole of some kind and for a moment Teresa felt like a kid again, about to do something naughty, go somewhere she wasn't allowed.

She wildshaped into a badger, nosed around the entrance for a bit and headed down the tunnel.

For a nest the tunnel was much to simple. It was one long corridor, twisting and turning between the roots of the tree. When she reached a stretch the rain didn't get to the tunnel continued for a bit untill she saw light.

That got her badger sense tingling, light in a nest?

Carefully she rounded the corner and stood in a small almost spherical chamber. As if a scoop was taken out. The walls were completely overgrown with thick roots, twisting and turning around eachother.

Strangely there was no lamp of sort, the light just was there. And without a clear shadown the origin of the light was a mystery.

On the wall, between the roots was a slab of mud, a small alcove carved in it.

As Teresa walked towards the book she wildshaped back and reached for it and for a moment she thought she found another book like she was carrying.

Roots lined the cover, jut like it.

She sat down against the wall and started reading. Her book had mentioned different groups of Druids and this one was very specific. She read the book cover to cover, that night she learned much more about Naeslins pupils.

She woke unsure of the time, curled up on the floor, both books in her lap. Blemmigan was mousing around and crawled back into her cloak when he saw she had waken up.

Carefully Teresa put the book back in the alcove, as instructed by the book. This one was not for the taken. It lay for a moment and then crumbled into mud. After tonight, little surprised Teresa anymore.

She wildshaped into a badger and headed out, when she jumped out the hole she entered she banged her head on a tree that wasn't there before. On closer inspection it was no tree but a leg, Tiny's leg! Having so much to tell she starts telling her story, but all Tiny and the rest can hear and see is a squeeling waving badger.

When she realises their confusion she wildshapes back and the is were we carry on our adventure together.