“Headin’ Out, A Little Early” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 35: Granthurg

Granthurg dropped the scrolls into his trunk and closed the lid. He locked it, and pushed it back out of the way on the deck. All the while his mind was racing with questions. I don’t understand. This isn’t right. Why do we need to leave right away? We still have a few pieces of cargo we haven’t offloaded! 

He shivered. The night was cold, and he felt it more than usual. He stood, turned and almost knocked Thissraelle over. He steadied her, stepped back, and looked down. She had a concerned look on her face.

“Sorry.” He moved around her and walked past his other passengers toward the steering platform.

“Granthurg! What’s wrong?”

He kept walking, taking a step up onto the platform.

“Granthurg!” She insisted.

He knelt by the steering oar at the stern and reached behind it, feeling for the lock he knew was hidden there.

“Granthurg! What’s going on?” She grabbed his arm and turned him toward her. “Look, I’ve only known you a few days, but you look like you’re upset.”

He nodded, then reached around again, and pulled up the rusty chain and lock. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked it. “We have to leave. I don’t know what’s going on, either, and that’s probably why I’m upset.” He pulled the chain free, then backed up on his knees. She followed. He swung open a small trap door, about the size of a couple of the deck planks. The lantern light above shone in and reflected off of something inside.

“There it is. Now if I can only figure out how to use it.” It was a stone, about the size of a human’s fist, of fine, polished jade. It was mostly green, but had some veins of brown running through it.

She leaned over to look, and recognized it as an Oculus Creator, infused with the powers of nature. “This is what Rinkmorr uses for the power to drive the barge upriver, just like I was saying.”

“Tonight he told me he needs us to leave, and go west. Something very bad is going on, and I don’t know what. Some people are after something he has. I don’t even know how to make this thing work.” He paused, then looked at her intently, “Do you?”

“I don’t know natural magics, but I’ve used oculi lots of times. I could try.”

He smiled for the first time that night. “Thanks. That’s all any of us can do.”

“What did Rinkmorr do to make it work?”

Granthurg chuckled, “He’d just sit there with his eyes closed, looking like a doof, and the boat would go. Then, when it was moving, he’d get up and steer like normal.” Granthrug stood. “Give it a try. I’ll get the barge ready.”

She reached in and felt the stone. Granthurg walked back toward the bow, and began to undo the mooring. He called out to the other passengers, resting on the cargo deck. “I hope you good folk don’t mind, but we’ve had a bit of change in plans. We’ll be casting off and heading up the Lesser Wynne tonight.”

DeFrantis and Antonerri glanced at each other, and DeFrantis spoke, “For us, the sooner we leave, the better.”

“Oh, no. No, no, no.” A deep voice from the pier surprised them. “You’re not leaving quite just yet.” Granthurg’s head snapped around to see three men standing on the pier, bathed in the light of the fore oculi. They were cloaked in dark colors. The leader was quite tall, even for a human, and his long, scraggly hair covered much of his face. He jumped onto the barge, along with his two companions. Granthurg stepped back, defensive. He looked back at Thissraelle, and saw his hammer sitting on the deck near her. He looked back at the men.

The leader spoke again, with a menacing gravel, “Of course, if you just give us what is ours, then we can all be on our way as soon as you like.”

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This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


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