Barmaid's Story
While she was in Montsilt to meet Lavani, Signal stayed at the Holmes Tavern. She ate at the bar each night, watched the people coming and going, and asked many questions.
Holmes was the bartender. It was his tavern. He knew how to be pleasant with guests, keep them entertained and talking. Signal was a handful. His brain was fried after the first night. She asked question after question. It seemed like she knew when there was more information to a story. When he would skip details for polite conversation, there was always a follow-up question. It was an interrogation! When Hilda walked in for her shift the second night, he knew she could keep Signal busy.
"Hilda, before you start, tell this representative from Etonia about your experience in that underground dungeon!" Holmes stepped away to get his break.
Hilda sat her bag on the bar. "You're from Etonia?" She asked tersely for confirmation.
Signal could sense the hairs on Hilda's neck were already standing up. Was she upset at Etonia? "Yes, the council sent me..."
Hilda jumped in, "You could have sent someone to Pale Gear last winter. No supplies delivered or follow-up on letters since then! My wife and I got dragged off and thrown in a dungeon, and you probably didn't even know!"
Signal couldn't answer any of those allegations. "I'm sorry. I don't think we did know." She leaned into the waves of emotion coming off Hilda. Black and reds mixed, swirling around her ears and weighing on her shoulders. "What happened to you? a dungeon?"
Hilda sat down on one of the bar stools. Holmes brought over an ale.
Captured
"I was working in the field. My wife, Hanna, was bringing some supplies out to me. Our daughters and a neighbor's kid were playing nearby. The next thing I know, I'm laying face first in the dirt. I couldn't move my body.
I could still see. Four or five figures approached us. We were all down as best I could tell. They bound our hands, then lifted us up and brushed us off. They had heavy cloaks and avoided the sun. I saw some pointy ears under their hoods. I thought for sure we were slaves, dinner, or going to be robbed - maybe all three!
They turned out to be pretty nice guys. We walked from the farm to a cave. They were very persuasive. They told us it would be fine, and this would be a safe place. I don't know why I believed them. I think I was just glad to be alive."
Inhospitable Place
"We don't let the kids go in the caves, and we never explored them either - and it turns out we were right to do so. It was cold and damp. There was no light, and the light our captors had was very dim. I lost track of the path we were on pretty quick. I had to focus more on not hitting my head in the low tunnels.
They told us not to get off their path. Otherwise, the giant worms, sentient fungi, or brain dogs would eat us - or come for our brains was the implication. They just kept saying to stay close, and they would keep us safe. I can't believe I went along with it but ahead, we forged Hanna, three kids, and me with these cloaked figures.
I stumbled a bunch of times. My feet were wet from stepping in too many puddles. It was nearly an hour until we reached a giant chasm. There was a brisk, cool wind blowing through the large, open space. A narrow stone bridge extended from the cliff edge to a black structure suspended in the air in the middle of the chasm.
It Got Worse
"Stepping into the black structure, the floor squished under our shoes. The walls and ceiling were covered with a gooey purple lining. We walked forward and stayed close to the cloaked figures. At the end of the first hallway, we stopped in a room with a lever. One of the cloaked figures pulled it. The floor lowered, took us down one level.
They had us all get off into a larger room and led us down a hallway that spiraled in on itself. We stopped before the center, and they chained us to a wall. Even then, they talked to us in a comforting way. Somehow we believed this was normal.
I'm not sure how much time passed while we hung on the side of that wall. Then, finally, Lavani's Champions came for us and brought us here to Montsilt." Hilda finished the last of her Ale and looked at the bottom of the cup for a few moments. "Well." she gathered her bag and stood, "I better get to some work since we are on our own out here."
Signal had been watching Hilda intently while she talked. She didn't get a question the whole time. Signals eyes were wide, and her nose flared a few times. Hilda headed for the kitchen. "Thank you," Signal called to Hilda. Signal wrote notes on a small tablet for the next hour and watched Hilda work. Holmes was relieved.
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