By Kati Davis (Korva Grimdawn)
The Wooden Sea
A Dungeons & Dragons World/Adventure
By Ahmad Williams (DM)
Korva was drunk. So drunk. The townsfolk of Stonebottom had kept her tankard full all night and she wasn’t bothered about keeping track of how many refills there had been. The dwarf would drink herself into oblivion if enough was put in front of her. Her dwarven nature really came out when she drank. Boisterous singing, exaggerated stories, proclaiming her love for her companions… that sort of thing. It was quite out of character and reminiscent of her parents whom she had spent over half of her life distancing herself from, but she couldn’t resist the allure of dwarven spirits and it always brought that suppressed side out.
Crow and the thief, Madera, had made no effort to quell her drinking, which was for the best because it probably would have started a fight. She was not above brawling while drunk. Instead, her companions spent the evening mingling with the townsfolk. Most of the adventurers had left Stonebottom once the mine job had been completed, and so when they caught the eye of one who was still around sitting at the back of the room eating berries, they went over to chat. Korva was conscious, but pretty out of it. They toted her and her tankard along with them to go talk to the gnomish Guild member. Pushing the groggy dwarf onto the bench in front of the adventurer, they slid in on either side of her, effectively keeping her propped up.
“Hey,” Crow greeted the small man.
“Hey,” he replied, a dribbling of berry juice running out of the corner of his mouth.
They chatted about the Stonebottom mission for a bit, but Korva couldn’t really track their words.
“It was great!” she yelled loudly, interrupting whatever it was Crow had been saying by trying to contribute to the conversation. The dwarf was oblivious to their startled looks as she downed another large swallow of ale. Korva felt like the tankard was the only thing that was holding still at this point, and looking at the little man dipping up and down on the other side of the table only made her want to throw up.
“Okay,” said the gnome after a long pause.
After more chatter, Korva was pulled away from her reflection in the bottom of the tankard by a nudging in her ribs.
“Tell him your name,” the thief urged her.
“Who?” she asked thickly.
“Z-man.”
“Z? Who?”
“Him,” he responded, exasperated, gesturing at the gnome across the table. Korva slowly turned her head to look at the little man. Her gaze was uncomprehending.
“Who?” she belched.
The next morning, Korva awoke in a bed at the Stonebottom inn. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there, but was grateful to be somewhere comfortable. Early daylight was filtering in through the window, bright and crisp. Her clothes smelled strongly of stale ale and body odor. She could vaguely recall the massive amount of drinking from the night before, but she felt great despite the bender. This was pretty normal for Korva, dwarven constitution and all.
She ran through some quick stretches of body and mind, as she did every morning. During meditation, she kept becoming distracted by her own stench and grumbling stomach, and so the dwarf changed into her other set of clothes. She hadn’t thought to get them cleaned before leaving Profit, so the clothes sported some dark blood and a tear from the scrap with the boar. She had ultimately decided this was better than ale-and-sweat-soaked. Grabbing her pack, the dwarf headed downstairs in search of breakfast.
In the common room, a stew was bubbling, which Korva scooped generously into a large bowl. She nodded to the tall man whom they had rescued when she noticed him standing near her with his own bowl. He looked much better, if not fully recovered from his experience the day before. They stuffed their mouths in silence until her companions joined them.
“Madera, Crow,” the man acknowledge them.
“Hey Wedge, how’re you feeling?” the half-elf, Madera, asked the rank four when he and Crow had helped themselves to the stew. Apparently better introductions had been made when Korva had been indisposed.
“Great, but uh,” Wedge looked a little down. Korva expected him to say something about the partner he had lost. “I heard from Mayor Mullencamp that Mr. Preston has invited all of you to his place in Profit. I hope you’ll put a good word in for me.”
“Sure,” Madera, responded around the food in his mouth. Korva thought hard on what good thing they could find to say about the man and came up empty.
Mr. Preston was an important man and Korva couldn’t fathom what he could possibly want with a few rank fives. Becoming a rank zero was a promoted position, not one you could simply obtain through successes and honors like the other ranks, and Mr. Preston was one of only four zeros in the Sea. He handled the finances for The Guild, which was no small feat. Aside from his Guild position however, the man was an enigma. Though he was listed in the Guild adventurer handbook with the other three zeros, Mr. Preston’s entry was extremely short, lacking any real information about him aside from his job. Even his first name was off limits.
After polishing off what was left in their bowls, the trio and Wedge stepped outside into the increasingly sunny day. Stonebottom was a place of hardworking people, and the miners were eager to return to work. Mayor Mullencamp was nearby, his mullet as excellent as ever, barking orders at people as they went.
“Should we stretch before we go?” a voice asked from next to Korva’s elbow, too close for comfort. The dwarf’s heart stuttered as she nearly jumped out of her skin. A pale gnome with shockingly red hair stood there in a overly-large, wide-brimmed garden hat. Where had he come from? Nobody else seemed surprised in the least.
“Hey Brad,” the thief called out, crossing over to the mayor. Crow, Wedge and the gnome went after him, leaving a confused Korva in front of the inn. She followed a moment later, trying to grasp at the vague flashes from the night before. The gnome had to be in there somewhere.
“Ah, the heroes of Stonebottom! Good morning!” He greeted them cheerily and rubbed his hands together. “I don’t suppose you heard, but Mr. Preston has invited you to visit him. Very good, very good. He’ll be available all day to see you, so I’d get on the road to Profit soon.”
After that, the group wasted precious time debating whether or not to get mounts to ride. It all started with Crow, of course, who seemed to have some trouble travelling in his armor. There wasn’t much of a selection in Stonebottom, mostly just donkeys and ponies, but that didn’t stop the conversation. Crow and Madera went around and around… and around, with the gnome piping up at one point about an ostrich. Korva just stayed out of it. If she were to buy a mount, it would be something worth a bit more coin and that could assist in battle. No donkey or riding pony was going to hold its own in the Wooden Sea. Finally, they resolved not to buy and left Stonebottom. Wedge, who had been loitering by the town gate, followed them out.
During the return trip to Profit, a cart came up behind them on the road. It looked to be some kind of merchant whom Wedge seemed to have an interest in, but Korva paid it no mind. The dwarf was walking near the center of their loose group, lazily rolling her skull token around in her hands and vaguely people-watching. She saw the gnome, Zrotzerzroz, looking back towards the merchant but his attention was quickly captured by something in the sky. His eyes lit up excitedly and he started furiously scribbling in a journal. Korva had gathered during the first part of their journey that the gnome had been recruited by Crow and Madera the night before. She watched the odd little druid as his eyes kept darting upwards looking for something. Between Crow, Madera, Zrotzerzroz and Wedge, the dwarf couldn’t help but feel that she was trapped in some kind of weird circus. They were about as ragtag as it got.
“Great guy,” Wedge commented as he jogged to the front of the group, referring to the merchant behind them. The thief joined him shortly and the two had a short exchange though Korva couldn’t hear what was being said. Money changed hands and Wedge elbowed Madera in a friendly way, then the half-elf went to visit the merchant. The whole thing left a bad taste in the dwarf’s mouth.
When they arrived at Profit, the gate guards beckoned them through without question, recognizing them from previous trips there.
“Are you going to turn in the supplies requisitioned by the shopkeep?” Madera asked of Crow as they walked into the busy street beyond the gate. He was, of course, referring to the short list of items gathered during their mine foray.
“Should I? I mean, we don’t even know what this thing is worth,” the human pulled out the ruby pendant, which caught the sun brilliantly. Zrotzerzroz was suddenly very close.
“I like shiny things,” he commented in an offhand way. The gnome lifted his arm and pointed to a silver bracelet around his wrist without taking his eyes away from the dangling gem.
“Well, I know of a place where we can get it appraised,” Madera supplied after an awkward silence. The party all agreed and headed toward the jeweler.
The shop was a tight squeeze for all of them to be inside at once, what with all of the cabinets and counters containing precious items, but they made it work. Wedge was still hanging around, no doubt waiting for his opportunity to meet Mr. Preston. He wasn’t looking around the shop, though, and just waited near the door. Madera seemed to be closely eyeing a few pieces, but didn’t seem as if he was looking for anything specific. The gnome looked like he’d found paradise, not knowing where to look first. Korva wasn’t interested in much of anything at all and followed Crow to talk to the woman at the back counter.
She was a halfling by the look of it, squat and wide, with wild, curly hair. Eagerly, she pulled a pair of magnifying spectacles over her eyes at the sight of the ruby necklace Crow was handing her.
“I can give you sixty gold for this wonderful piece,” she said finally after turning it about in her hands several times. Crow hesitated at the offer. “Or, if you’d like, it can be traded for something that would better suit you.”
The jeweler gestured around her shop. The human’s eyes were caught by some enchanted pieces, which he enquired about.
“Oh, I’m afraid those are a bit out of the range of the trade-in value of this pendant,” the halfling smiled. “If you’d like to spend on top of the trade-in value, however, I think I have some very nice pieces that could help you in your travels.”
“I’ll think about it, but I’m going to pass for now,” Crow replied after some deliberation.
Next, the group walked to the armor and weapon shop. Crow was still undecided on whether or not he was going to hand over the ruby pendant with the other items he had been tasked to gather, though it didn’t make much sense to Korva why he was having such a dilemma. Apparently, the human had been offered quite a discount if he supplied what was written on the list.
Inside, the shopkeep enthusiastically welcomed Crow back by name, but the atmosphere in the shop was quickly changing. The human was hesitant yet again to give up the ruby. Crow had showed it to the man and though the man played it cool and said he’d have to send it away to be appraised, Korva could tell he knew more than he let on. Not only that, but the shopkeep wanted that ruby badly. It was likely worth more than even the jeweler had offered based off of this man’s reaction.
It was becoming obvious as their conversation carried on that Crow was not going to follow through with their deal. He was asking about masterwork items, and the shopkeep, who was an excellent salesman, was saying all the right things, but still the human was unwilling to part with the pendant. Crow couldn’t afford a masterwork at this point. He had been offered such a hefty discount for the goods, plus a plan to pay over the course of several months and the shop certainly had some nice greatswords to choose from. The dwarf wasn’t sure why he was turning it down.
“If I come back later, will you still offer me the same deal?” Crow asked. Korva resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“No,” the rather annoyed shopkeeper replied flatly. “I have other customers with needs. I can't just wait around for you.”
The air was sour as the group shuffled out of the shop. Korva couldn’t help but think that Crow had capably burned that particular bridge.
“Alright,” Madera rubbed his hands together, a bit excited. “Let’s take our friend Wedge over to Tim’s.”
Crow was also itching to get back to Tim’s. Korva just grimaced. She never wanted to set foot in that place again. Drugs were common, sure, but that didn’t mean she condoned the use of them, let alone the sale of them.
“I’m going to the park,” the gnome piped up out of the blue, as he always did. He started marching away as fast as his little legs would carry him.
“I’m going with him,” Korva pointed towards Zrotzerzroz weaving through the crowd. The dwarf was more than happy for an excuse to avoid the alchemy shop.
The Profit park was small, but nice. It had a fountain in the middle and benches to sit on. A few trees and bushes were scattered around. Zrotzerzroz didn’t seem to be paying attention to Korva at all. She wasn’t even sure he knew she had followed him. His eyes flickered all around the park, the journal she’d seen him writing in on the road clutched tightly in his hands once more. The gnome spotted a group of birds near the fountain, seated himself quietly on the closest bench and began scribbling quickly. Korva sat next to him, but she didn’t have an interest in bird watching. Instead she pulled out the religious tome found in the dwarven ruin and started to flip through it. She hadn’t spent any time in study since leaving the monastery, but the feeling was familiar and she was enjoying it.
After they’d been there awhile, the gnome caught Korva’s attention when he stood up suddenly and stuck out his arm in an attempt to pet one of the nearby birds. Much to her surprise, the bird let him. Birds began landing on him and soon enough he was covered in the winged creatures. Somehow Zrotzerzroz looked even more excited than he had in the jeweler’s shop. He was practically vibrating with the thrill of it. She chuckled lightly to herself at the spectacle and shook her head. The birds flew off at the approach of Crow, Madera and Wedge, who had finished their errand. Korva noted there was not a single speck of bird droppings on the gnome.
“Should we see if we can pick something up from the board?” Crow asked the group.
“We should go see Mr. Preston,” Korva reminded. “We were told he is available to see us today. It’s best not to let anymore time pass.”
The party set off on their way through the streets of Profit to see Mr. Preston. They found his building was a dense brown-gray wood reminiscent of the Profit city walls. Before anyone could react, Zrotzerzroz charged right through the door. Hopefully we weren’t supposed to knock, Korva thought to herself in exasperation. Glancing at each other briefly, they followed the gnome in and were brought face to face with a petite, prim human wearing a tidy bun.
“Welcome,” she grinned brightly.
“We’re here to see Mr. Preston,” Madera told her.
“Of course, the heroes of Stonebottom! Please, come in.” She ushered them into a remarkably clean room. Korva could not find a single speck of dust with her sharp eyes. On the outside, the building had appeared to be two stories, but one could now see that the rooms were just that tall. The back wall of the office contained three doors; one on the left, one on the right, and one directly behind the woman’s immaculate desk. The woman indicated that the group should sit while she let Mr. Preston know they were there by gesturing to a couple of couches and then she exited through the left side door.
While they waited, Korva noticed Wedge out of the corner of her eye surreptitiously tuck something in his mouth. It was a tiny square of paper, about as thin as one could get it. She knew this drug. The dwarf didn't know the street name for it, but had learned about it under the scientific name, 'laxii'. Laxii was stamped onto bits of paper to be sold, and, when taken, would dissolve on the tongue. This caused the user to become more relaxed and charismatic. She could see the instant change in the man’s face as the drug took effect. His pupils weren’t blazed like down in the mine, but Wedge certainly looked confident enough to take on the world.
“Hey,” she beckoned to Crow and Madera. Korva didn’t really care about getting the gnome involved. As it was, he wasn’t even paying attention. Instead Zrotzerzroz was closely examining the dirt in one of the office’s few potted plants with a satisfied look on his face.
“I just saw Wedge take something,” the dwarf conspiratorially informed the human and half-elf.
“What was it?” Madera asked.
“It’s called laxii. Anything he wants to say to Mr. Preston, he’ll be able to sell it.”
“Should we take him in with us? We could ask him to stay out.”
“I.. don’t know,” she replied hestitanly. “We can’t be sure what he’s going to say and how that will reflect on us.”
Ultimately, the trio decided to ask Wedge to leave. Korva didn’t feel bad about it. The braggadocious rank four had simply tagged along this far because they hadn’t already thought to ask him to leave. The only reason he was still with their group was because they were his ticket to Mr. Preston. If the drug variable hadn’t entered the mix, Korva wouldn’t even have cared. She was worried, though, that Wedge would say something to discredit or slander herself, Madera and Crow and that he would get Mr. Preston to believe it. Laxii was a powerful tool in that regard.
“...So since you weren’t actually a part of our group and weren’t able to help, we’d like to ask you to wait out here,” Crow concluded after approaching Wedge.
“But I did help,” Wedge replied coolly. The way he said it was smooth as butter, without even the barest hint of annoyance. “I pointed out the trap to you. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t.” Korva forced her eyes not to roll.
“You wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for us,” Madera reminded him, matching Wedge’s tone and staring hard at the other man.
“Alright, alright,” conceded Wedge with a shrug. He seemed like he couldn’t even be bothered to care. “Just promise you’ll say I was an integral part of the rescue. Tell Mr. Preston I couldn’t make it.”
“Sure, we can put in a good word,” Crow replied.
“No, tell him I was an integral part.”
“Sure,” he responded again.
With a nod to the group and a wink at Zrotzerzroz, the man casually strolled out of the office. The gnome looked completely confused by the gesture.
With a nod to the group and a wink at Zrotzerzroz, the man casually strolled out of the office. The gnome looked completely confused by the gesture.
Soon after, they were being ushered into the rank zero’s office by the petite woman, who had reemerged following Wedge’s departure. Mr. Preston was a small man with slicked back hair that was black as night, and he wore little, round glasses. He was painted as a picture of strength and power behind his solid ironwood desk, though. It was huge and sturdy, reminding Korva of a bulwark. The lines and seams of the wood slats were impossible to pick out. It was constructed even more tightly than the ironwood that surrounded the Profit itself. The rest of the office was practical. The only (maybe) frivolous item that Korva could identify was a pen holder that contained two pens. Light was supplied solely by lamps, as there were no windows in this part of the building.
“Crow, Madera, Korva, Zrotzerzroz,” Mr. Preston extended his hand toward each as he named them. His voice was as solid as his desk and imbued with authority. “The heroes of Stonebottom. Please, tell me what you found down in that mine.”
The companions were silent for a moment, considering. How could one explain what had been found there?
“Well,” Korva spoke up hesitantly, glancing at Crow and Madera. “We went in and found that the miners had made a tunnel into some dwarven ruins. It seemed to me to be a… a religious place. Maybe a monastery? We encountered dwarven skeletons held together by vines.”
She looked at her companions again. Korva didn’t know if Crow and Madera had been able to put together anything about the ruins and that they had been fighting dwarves. She’d never thought to mention it at the time.
“After that we came to a room that was covered in plants. The floor, the ceiling, the walls…” the dwarf continued slowly. She felt crazy, hearing herself say it all out loud. “Everything was cast in a blue light from this...thing that was suspended between the floor and ceiling by thick roots. It had lots of little roots coming out of it too, and pulsing veins running through it. It was...controlling people.”
Mr. Preston had a hard-edged face that was hard to read, but he did give something away under Korva’s careful eye. He wasn’t surprised by her story and she felt like his lack of reaction changed things.
"I must admit, I've heard a similar tale," Mr. Preston said in a tone that suggested stories like these often paraded through his office. Maybe they do, Korva thought. He continued, “There is a small town, Foolslope, about a day’s journey from here. They’re grabbit farmers exclusively, but there is one young man there who claims to be some kind of wizard. I’d like you to go to Foolslope and hear his story, see what you can find out.”
Mr. Preston’s assistant stepped forward with fliers in hand similar to what would be found on Guild bounty boards, but Korva could guess these ones would never see public eye. They contained the special directive Mr. Preston had just given them. Each of the adventurers took one. Zrotzerzroz, paper in hand, turned on his heel and left the office. Korva couldn’t believe his lack of manners. Their group hadn’t been dismissed yet, and she was sure it wasn’t a good idea to just walk out on someone like Mr. Preston.
“So, that’s a pretty nice desk,” Crow commented following the gnome’s departure, not giving anyone else a chance to say anything. His voice was sly. Korva and Madera looked at their companion in confusion.
“Yes,” Mr. Preston replied evenly. The man took everything in stride and kept his reactions bottled up. “Maddox is normally a boat builder but he’s an excellent craftsman and made this desk for me. He may be retired now, I don’t know. Unfortunately, we’ve lost touch.”
“What’s your first name?” Crow asked, drastically switching tactics.
This human has a death wish, Korva thought, as her eyes widened in horror. Madera’s jaw dropped. All the air whooshed out of the office under the weight of the expression on Mr. Preston’s face. His eyes were boring into Crow’s, his mouth was set in a line so tight you could barely see it at all, and the hard edges of his face seemed to be more pronounced. A line had been crossed. Suddenly, Korva felt like Zrotzerzroz had the right idea. She turned and hustled out of the office, not interested in being around for whatever was coming next.
The outer office felt bright and safe in comparison to the other room. She could still hear Mr. Preston’s voice as she stood just outside the door taking deep breaths. Korva wanted to put as much distance between herself and whatever was being said in that low, dangerous voice, and since Zrotzerzroz had apparently left the building entirely, she followed suit. The gnome was standing just outside the building, so Korva joined him. The two didn’t have to wait long before Crow and Madera came out. Whatever Mr. Preston had said was swift and to the point, though Korva couldn’t help being mildly surprised that the paladin had been let go in any form other than corpse. Mr. Preston was obviously not a man to be trifled with.
“Let’s get food,” Zrotzerzroz declared as soon as they were all together. No one had the chance to reply since he had begun to walk the second the words were out of his mouth. The gnome was, of course, oblivious to what had transpired inside. Neither human or half-elf shared anything about their final words with Mr. Preston, so Korva didn’t ask. She decided she didn’t need to know. It was probably better not to be involved.
The group walked in silence to a food stand and purchased some lunch. It was cheap meat, likely grabbit, but it seemed to be helping jump-start Korva’s brain which had been feeling sluggish following the Mr. Preston debacle. As they ate, the companions decided to check one of the Profit bounty boards to see if there was anything available for Foolslope or in the surrounding area of the town. After sifting through the typical “lost cat” fare, one presented itself. It was pretty straightforward: grabbits were disappearing following the appearance of a shiny object in the hills and the town was asking for someone to investigate. They each took one of the bounty fliers. Korva hoped that the mission was as simple as the piece of paper made it sound.
After grabbing his bounty flier, Zrotzerzroz had wandered off again. The dwarf noticed her druid companion at nearby flower stall. To the annoyance of the shopkeep, Zrotzerzroz began aggressively sniffing each flower.
“Hey, knock it off!” The salesman admonished the gnome right as Korva, Crow and Madera walked up. “You’re creepin’ out my customers!”
Sure enough, the people standing loosely around the stall were slowly moving away from the vigorous sniffer. The shopkeep held out his hand and said, “You’re gonna have to pay silver if you wanna keep smellin’.”
The little man looked devastated and started to turn away from the stall, but Crow tossed a silver to the shopkeep. Zrotzerzroz’s face lit up again and sniffed to his heart’s content. When he was finished, the gnome abruptly turned away and started waving both of his arms stiffly, palms facing his body.
“Almighty spirits of nature, heed my will!” He exclaimed loudly. Korva, Crow, and Madera shared a bewildered look. What in the world...
“Uh, what was that?” Korva asked dubiously.
“I communed with the spirits and learned the weather,” Zrotzerzroz said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“And what did they say?” Madera inquired slowly.
“It’s going to be nice tomorrow.” With that, the druid once more turned on heel and strolled away. He was headed toward the city gate, but his companions caught up quickly. They exited Profit and set out on the trade road once more.
