Part 84: Discovery
Chapter 16: Discovery
QfG4 Manual posted:
Signs of the Crimes : Thief Marks
by Dick "the Slick" Millhouse
So you got caught and thrown in prison, locked away for the rest of your
natural born life. Your only consolation is that no one yet knows that you
have brought shame and dishonor to your family, will cause your father to
enter an early grave and then turn somersaults in the tomb for eternity,
and set yourself up for your mother to blame all the misfortunes, bad luck,
ill weather, sisters-not-marrying-a-doctor, brother-failing-to-pass-the-bar-
exam sort of problems that are going to happen to your relatives.
Don't lose hope. After all, there isn't a prison that some other thief has
not done time in. Look around you. See that scratch on the wall? That,
kid, is your key to getting out of here. Assuming of course, you can
figure out what it means.
Thief Marks are a good Thief's way of letting other guys know he was here
first. That way, he can let others know about dangerous situations or
information they should know, and at the same time say, "Ha, Ha, I was here
before you, neener, neener, neener!" It lets them feel superior while
performing a useful service for others.
The strangest thing happened last night. Someone broke into the old monastery and burned the place down! I don’t suppose you’d know anything about this?
And good morning to you too, Dmitri. Hmph! I keep having this suspicion that you will be getting into even more trouble than you have already. It’s always been in your nature. I don’t suppose it is a coincidence that I smell smoke as you draw near? I’ll be honest with you. I torched the monastery. You should have seen the place…paladins have this thing where we can sense danger, right? Well, it wouldn’t have mattered. Everything, the statues, the little noises, even the smell…there was a giant book that was just oozing with evil, called the Necrophilicon. I put a torch to it so no one could use it, and the whole place lit up. I hope it didn’t spread to any of the other buildings. No, it didn’t, aside from some scorching on the old adventurer’s guild. Now let me be honest with you. It is a good thing the place is destroyed. It was a bad place, and its destruction is a vast improvement to the town. That’s it? Not even a slap on the wrist? No. I trust your judgment, especially since it agrees with mine. Now go do whatever it is you do during the day, and try not to set any other buildings on fire. See you later.
Looks like it held up okay outside. But—oh wow, the inside’s just GONE.
Hello, Nike! Hey, Igor. How’s the gravedigging business? Not tomb bad. Customers not complain. Ha, ha. Little graveyard humor there. Anything happen after the grave deal? Not much. Igor come back to town after dark the other night. See strange pretty woman standing near gate. She look like she looking for someone. Igor go up to pretty woman. Igor say, “Hey baby, want to light my pyre? Ha, ha. Little graveyard humor there.” She not have sense of humor. She give Igor cold shudder and walk off. Igor in love, or at least reasonable facsimile. Um, yeah. Would you mind staying away from her? I’ve kind of got this thing going with her, and… Igor understand. Nike like pretty woman, so Igor stay away from Nike’s ghoul. Ha, ha. Little graveyard humor there. Cute.
You are walking in the land of dreams, searching for something. You sense the nearness of Erana, and feel her gentle presence beside you. You turn to her and see tears in her eyes. You feel sorrow and an incredible sense of loss, and reach out for her.
As the vision resumes, the Darkness swallows her, and she is torn from you. You feel her die as she tries to drive the Darkness away. The Darkness is trapped in the world between worlds.
So is Erana.*The next day, nothing happens.*
Oh good, you came. I hoped you would come to see me here again. I wanted to ask a favor of you. What’s that? I need your help to find…oh, but we hardly even know one another, and here I am asking you for favors. I’m sorry. It’s just that this is so important to me that I couldn’t wait to ask you. That’s fine. I’ll gladly do anything you asked me to. Just tell me what you need. I wanted you to find some things for me…but it’s really too dangerous. I’d hate for you to get hurt trying to help me. Never mind. Besides, I don’t even know if I can trust you yet. What? Why not? What can I do to prove myself? Well, we’ve only met a few times. How do I know if you are telling the truth about yourself? But I’ve told you all about myself! Besides, paladins don’t lie, at least not unless something really important comes up. It’s not really about honesty, I just need someone who is dependable; someone who will face danger willingly for me. Perhaps when we get to know one another better, I’ll be able to tell if you are the one I need. For example, I know that one of the things I need is hidden in the swamp. You’d have to be very strong or clever to avoid getting killed there. I’m not sure you are ready to face the dangers in that dismal place. What? Why would you need something from the swamp? What would a nice peasant girl like you need with a hero, anyway? Unless…you’re not an enchanted princess, are you? I’ve had some run ins before. What? No! I…er…sorry, I think I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Isn’t there something you’d like to talk about? I suppose. I told you all about me the other night, but I’ve met a few friends over the years. There are all these damn gnomes, for instance…*Hours Pass*
…Which is why I can’t go in Mama’s shop anymore without feeling a little queasy. Ha ha ha! You know, you really are a lot more interesting than the other people in the castle. It can get so lonely there, and Ad…Adam is just such a stick in the mud, I haven’t laughed like that in a long time. You really are fun to be around. Do I get a kiss as a reward? I…your lips are so tempting. I long to feel your arms around me, holding me against your warm body. I want t…no, please. I’m not sure I can control myself with you. You said that last time. What’s so wrong about losing control? Well, w-we still barely know each other! And I’m not sure what I would do if…please, work on your skills before we next meet. Mordavia is a very dangerous place. I do need your help, but I don’t want anything harmful to happen to you. Farewell. Katrina seems to walk off into the mist. Odd, you’ve never noticed much fog around this area of the forest. Dang it. At least I know where to find the ghost woman.
I don’t understand. Every time I try to follow you, I find myself here again. Why can’t I leave this place? Why can’t I go home? Do you know who you were, at least? I…I…I can’t remember. I can’t even think of my own name…what’s wrong with me? Everything is so hazy when I try to think of things. It’s like trying to look at things far, far away. I should be able to remember my own name, shouldn’t I? I don’t get it either. Piotyr knows who he is. Maybe it’s because you don’t know you’re a ghost? A ghost…no! No! It can’t be. Noooo! The ghostly apparition vanishes. I sure hope she comes back. I still don’t know who she was. Oh that’s right, I still have to go see the domovoi about the water thing!
I helped out the domovoi in the monastery.
Happy I am. You help me, you I help. I help you help others. You be plenty big hero here. Many, many hero things to do. That’s nice. So what’s the thing you can help me with? You help me, I you help. You want be big hero? You want make many people happy? You want make friends and influence people? Yeah. First to be plenty good hero, need to be very very powerful. If not very skilled, you die. If not very smart, you die. No more hero. I’m still here, aren’t I? I helped out your friend and burned the damn place down for good measure. What else do you want me to do? Domovoi understand. Tell you a story. Yuri and Bella have daughter Tanya. Lovely daughter. Laughing daughter. One day, Tanya taken away. All because of a doll. Tanya sweet child. Tanya like everyone. Then Bella have dream. Dream Tanya taken away. Bella very very scared. Not let Tanya play outside. Not let Tanya have friends. Tanya get scared of dark. Tanya many times alone at back of inn in dark. One day, monster come. Big monster. Friendly monster. He visit Tanya’s window. He talk to Tanya. Tanya not afraid of dark. Tanya now have monster friend. One night, Tanya very very unhappy, so monster take Tanya away. Monster want to make Tanya happy. Now Tanya gone. Tanya gone to castle. No one see Tanya leave. No one see Tanya go. No one but domovoi. Domovoi try to stop Tanya, but too late. Tanya already outside with monster. No tell Bella. No tell Yuri. Very bad thing. Tanya need hero, not dead parents. Only brave, powerful hero save Tanya. And that would be me. What was that about a doll? One night, Tanya get beautiful doll. Tanya not have doll before. Tanya love doll very much. Bella very very scared—where doll come from? Yuri very very scared—who gave doll to Tanya? Take doll away. Make Tanya very very sad. Bella hide doll in cabinet. You take doll. Tanya love doll. Maybe you help Tanya. No talk Bella. No show Bella doll. Make Bella very scared. Make Bella very unhappy. You take doll. You take doll to Tanya some day. Some day you very powerful hero, you take doll to Tanya. Why does everyone keep saying that? I’m powerful enough! I—oh fine, I’ll go grab the doll.
You open the cabinet and see a lovely doll. You carefully remove the elegant doll from the cabinet and store it in your pack. Nice, courtly clothes and everything. Back when I was her age, I know I would…would have broken a doll like this if I saw it. Yeah. I’m tired.
*Yawn* Stupid dolls… The Darkness lies sleeping. You say the ancient words of ritual, and enter its mouth. You touch its bones, and they harden around you. You touch its frozen blood, and the blood flows. Everywhere you walk, your life energy seeps into the Darkness, and the Darkness grows. You have entered the Heart of Darkness.I guess it’s not in Africa after all.