Preparing the Paths

I learned that the old guide's name was Siguror. We spent the rest of the evening discussing a number of different traps we could set up closer to the resting place. Lariss and Hrothgar knew a few simple ones that were commonly used in hunting while Feadr knew a few glyph formations that he had used when robbing merchants. Cedric still thought we were idiots for staying in the marsh but couldn't leave because he couldn't find his own way out.

After we had a basic plan formed we started to settle in for the night. I took the opportunity to approach Cedric. Not having access to the warnings in my heart was a disadvantage plus the constant chill was starting to get annoying.

"Could you possibly take a look at my spirit and tell me if something is wrong?" I asked him.

"I could but I won't be able to tell you much since I'm not that good at it. Is there something specific that's bothering you?" He extended his hand and placed his fingertips on my forehead.

"I think I might be under some form of a curse, it's hard to explain. As we were leaving Torinheim I ran into someone and have felt off since then." I said.

"Ehh, I can't really see anything but like I said, I'm not really good at this type of thing." He lowered his fingers and looked like he wanted to say something.

"Are you going to comment on the size of my spirit?" This was a common topic that came up after someone examined my spirit.

"Yours is about as strong as mine was when I was your age. I'm hoping that the person who told you you have an above average spirit wasn't a Follower of the Holy Light. They can be pushy." He said.

"Some of them have and I was invited to meet the Archbishop in Torinheim, though that might not have anything to do with this." I could tell he had resentment towards the church and wanted to get any information I had about them.

"Either way, he'll size you up the moment he sees you. The damned bastards think that anyone with a certain spiritual strength should be working for them. I'd just avoid him like the plague. The church doesn't have too much power in the north, the Duchess has a witch advisor that the Archbishop publicly blamed for the Years of Sorrow. So they're not on good terms. " He said.

"Were you recruited when they found out about the size of your spirit?" I asked.

"Yep, I like to call it the worst decision of my life." He said.

"What kind of tactics do they use?" I asked.

"They'll start softly, talking about the glory of the Holy Light and why you need to worship it. If you don't respond to that, they'll talk about the rewards and prestige of working for the church. Then they'll try to pay you with what they think you want. When they're really persistent they go to threaten you and those around you as a last resort. But that's only for the truly powerful. For you they'll go as far as bribing." He replied.

Of course I wasn't going to tell him that a witch's spell was hiding the true size of my spirit.

"Can I ask why you left?" I said.

"You can ask." He then gave me a large grin without actually answering.

I gave him a smile and wished him a good night. While most of us didn't need to sleep, it sped up our recovery rate. So after we set up a few traps near the island, a few of us laid down for the night. We still set a watch even though it was unlikely that anyone would have time to reach us tonight.

In the morning Thelora called me over and showed me a Communication Stone. It was vibrating which indicated that someone was trying to speak to us.

"This was in Gerbold's Storage Ring. Someone's been trying to contact us all night. Do you think we should engage with them?" She asked.

I took it in my hand and activated it. "What do you want?" I said.

"Who the hell is this? Where is Gerbold?" Someone yelled through the Communication Stone.

"Whatever was left of him is currently being digested by a few monsters." I replied.

"I see." A different voice came over the Stone that was deeper and had an air of authority. I presumed it was Torfredr.

"I'll give you two choices. Either you can join me or you can die." He said.

"That's not really a convincing argument." He skipped a few steps in the church's recruitment plan.

"If you want something more than your life I can promise you wealth and all the benefits that come with it." He said.

"I killed your man and you're interested in having me work for you without repercussions? Not sure I believe you." I said.

"The strong survive, the weak perish. If Gerbold died, he wasn't worth my time. If you killed him then you'd be of more value to me than him. I'm about to take over the north, as one of my people you'll have benefits and prestige that that sorry excuse for a Queen can't give you." He said.

"But if we kill you, she'll give us everything you are offering and maybe a little more." I said.

He was quiet for a moment. "She is stifling us. Binding us to rules that we shouldn't have to follow. We're criminals, laws and rules are for others, we should be the only truly free people in the world but she keeps holding us down."

His pitches were the complete opposite of what Cedric outlined for the church.

"You seem to be under a false impression about who I work for. A few months ago one of the Night Mistress' places was raided. That gave us enough clues to lead us here. Stopping the supply of drugs is a B ranked quest from Duchess Torgeir, your head being another B ranked quest is just a bonus." I said.

"I see. We'll see you soon." He ended his connection.

"I'm not sure you accomplished much there. He might be a little more cautious now." Thelora said.

"Hopefully he's over cautious and gives us some more time. But I didn't just say that for him. He might not be scared of a group of adventures, but I doubt the same can be said of everyone he's with. Once they start to encounter our traps, it should drive fear into a few of them." I said.

"Maybe, his inner circle will be stronger willed, it will take more to unnerve them." She said.

"Then we'll have to give them a reason to fear us." I replied.

With the sun up we split into two teams. Thelora, Hrothgar, Siguror, and I headed towards the center of the marsh while Cedric, Feadr, Thorarinn, and Lariss headed back towards the entrance. Along the way Lariss and Siguror removed the path markers and created new ones. They also created a few false trails with the old markers, sending them off the safe path. Doing so put us in danger and we had to fight off a few monsters as we went.

A little after midday we headed back to the resting place. According to Siguror we only went about a third of the way towards the center. On the way back Hrothgar set up a few hunting traps that wouldn't kill anyone but would slow them down. Where it would be effective, Thelora added some poisons to the traps. I also placed down a few earth and air wards as we got closer to the resting place. The further they were from me the quicker they would dispel naturally.

When we arrived back at the resting place the other group was already back. Cedric was chuckling as he drank from his flask. Thorarinn was sitting quietly while glancing toward a clearly irritated Lariss. The last one of them, Feadr, was sitting off to the side with a busted lip and the beginning of a black eye.

"Did everything go well?" I asked.

"Oh it went very well. If those old geezers try to sneak up on us, they're in for a few surprises." Lariss said with a smile as her irritation vanished.

As the others gathered in the middle to have dinner, I went over to the sulking Feadr. I didn't say anything as I sat next to him. He twitched nervously as I remained quiet and didn't look directly at him.

"Have we learned our lesson?" I asked him.

"Y-yes. I'll leave her alone." He replied.

"Glad to hear." I then got up without looking at him.

As I joined the others, Thelora leaned in and whispered in my ear. "A little over protective for someone that isn't your girlfriend."

"I protect those that are important to me." I whispered back.

"Hmm, hopefully I can have that protection from you one day." She replied.

"One day maybe." I said.

Close to sunset one of my wards went off. From where it went off, it should take them about an hour and a half to get to us. By then night will have set in. Lasna had just entered the waxing gibbous phase which would help increase my Lydos aura, unfortunately Antona was in a new moon phase and wouldn't help me.

"They're getting close. If there is anything else we want to prepare we'll need to get it done quickly." I said.

"Give me a hand, I still have a few ideas." Thelora said.