Chapter 18

Praise be to Baldr, for when he casts judgment, none stand to oppose him.

## Synopsis

I am quite tired of Helike's ~~horseshit~~ no, horseshit was the right word. We were unable to awaken Melithar, who had fallen into a coma after our dear archer stuck a pin through the eye of... was it Balthazar? It may have been a metaphorical eye, I'm having difficulty remembering. At least Helike finally admitted the obvious to us, that he had made a pact with a devil named Enroll (the octopus monster that we saw shortly before he became an elf. I couldn't make this up if I tried.) Even worse, he had signed a contract in a language that he couldn't read. Blood and shale. If uncle taught us *anything*, it's that you don't mine directly upward and you don't sign a contract without reading the fine print.

Anyways, Helike had gained some sort of magic power from the Sovagxa woods themselves, and now we needed to spend the night at the shack with the eye before we could remove the curse on Melitharthat kept her unconscious. I checked in with Cesta Melora, and he touched my chest and my knees turned to jelly and I told him that I wanted his companionship. I'll spare you the details.

During the early morning, while Scourpax was performing experiments with that eye ~~(my party makes terrible decisions)~~ Melitharbegan to speak in an infernal (but not That Infernal) tongue, sharing events that only my friends and I had traveled. I fear that someone is watching us. Having finally replenished the strength of Baldr, I removed the curse on her and she awoke. Melitharand Scourpax hit it off very quickly, then Melitharlet us know that everyone was safe, but that Lenny's sister might be in trouble. Lenny is understandably concerned. I feel terrible for her to have her sister thrown into our war like this.

Before anything else, we decided to visit "the Wizard," some old-as-basalt Horizon Walker who might have advice on Helike's spell. Scourpax and Helike chatted for a bit, and now I know that they were discussing Helike's untold power.

Cesta Melora told us how to get to the Wizard's base in a town called Hudsonia, past the town of Gumnell. I was still concerned of the vision I got from the eye, where Duluth was carving evil runes into his body, so I reached out to him with a Sending spell, urging him to meet us in Gumnell. He only told me to repent.

On the second day of our travels, I used my strongest powers granted by Baldr to let Castelis speak to the head that he had been keeping on his belt. This was the head that, when it had a body, was holding onto a bracelet that Castelis knew belonged to his daughter. Castelis asked the head five questions.

### The Five Questions

*Question: Where did you get the bracelet?*

*Answer: Elf woman gave it to me.*

*Question: Did the elf woman give it willingly or did you take it?*

*Answer: Elf woman gave it to me.*

*Question: What happened to the elf woman after she gave it to you?*

*Answer: Elf woman left.*

*Question: Where did she go when she left?*

*Answer: Don't know.*

*Question: Was the elf woman alive when she left?*

*Answer: Elf woman left alive.*

### The Heist

At last, we arrived at Hillforge, Mercer's hometown. I warned the others of his powers and capabilities, though I didn't go into much detail. Somehow the others read between the lines. Maybe I'm not as subtle as I thought. The city gates were covered in ~~a bad drawing of~~ ~~Mercer's face~~ a new insignia of House Mistiltainn that scared me more than anything else we've seen these past few days.

Then things went south. We were allowed through the gates and one guard just had to say "don't do crime" and instantly Scourpax and Lenny were, you guessed it, doing petty crime. Long story short, Cesta Melora, Helike and I wind up at spear point and I make up the worst damned excuse that I'm here to give Mercer —*Mercer Fucking Mistiltainn* — my blessing. So we all get pulled into "The Sun Palace" ~~(A reference to Baldr? Has he been thinking of me?)~~ and before long we are all face-to-face with the tiefling himself. In gaudy clothes, wearing the Staff of Ungart around like a child. Everyone else must have been following me and snuck in, and then out of nowhere Gurney, who *no one had seen in days*, jumped out of a plant. I am telling you, he is a ~~fairy~~ fey of some kind.

So Mercer goes on about how he is the ruler of the town and ~~blah blah blah~~ reveals that he used his enchantment magic to force the other nobles "into their place." I shudder to think what that means. To make matters worse, he has found a way to harness the incredible power of the staff by making a deal with the Ungart devil Nyplos, which has invisible devils scouring the building. After a good half hour of insulting me and saying that I "always underestimated him," Mercer offers us rooms, and I would have gone except that Helike cast a fog spell, setting off our a heist of *idiotic proportions*. Castelis bit into him, Gurney started slashing at devils, and Mercer tried to cast a *domination spell* on me. After everything that happened that rat fucking bastard. Thankfully Cesta Melora, bless his heart, gave me some enchantment that helped me fight off the spell.

With nowhere to go, Helike unleashed his newfound power and sent us all flying into a new plane, a forest of some sort. Scourpax put Mercer to sleep, Lenny took the staff, and we dragged him into the portal. So now we are in the furthest corner of existence itself begging everyone not to kill a man I hate. After a good minute of ranting and screaming and revealing personal thoughts, we walked back through the portal with Mercer as a hostage. With the staff in tow, we forced Mercer to the edge of the city and demanded horses to escape on. I healed Mercer and told him I was sorry. I may never fully understand what possessed me to do that. And then we left. Scourpax let me hold the staff, and suggested we give it to the dwarves of Aerlyt Kell, Rolin, Bolin, and Aeleron Aerlyt, who had gone on a pilgrimage to see it. He feels guilty about flattening their mountain. I think that we should do that as well. We will reach Hudsonia soon.

I wish you were here. Perhaps you would know what to do.

All my love and affection,

Your brother, Carnelian Silversmith