After having made a new friend(?) in Frost Gale, Shael managed to convince the new friend(?) to let her whisk her away to warmer weather for a while. Fleeing the frigid north is something Shael has plenty of experience with. It's admittedly a lot easier now that Indra is a full-grown drake and not a scrawny wyrmling. 

Indra has quickly accepted Eva as someone who is not a threat to Shael, though Indra has always been pretty good around people the same age as her rider. The massive drake has even given Eva a big slobbery lick across the top of her head, a surefire sign that the creature approves of this new traveling companion despite them tasting like dirt. 

The journey from the perpetually icy lands to the beautiful tropical coastlines of the Crescent Isles was a long one. They passed over the sparkling towers of Eclipse City, the softly glowing Lantern Light Wood, the dense canopy of the Eclipse Jungle until they hit Moonglade's western coastline. They then crossed the brilliantly clear cerulean waters to the island nation of the Crescent Isles, skirting along the edge of the Crescent Coast down further south to the more remote isles south of Starlight City. 

Nothing too eventful happens during the journey, but Eva might disagree considering how new to traveling she is. It'd be a lie to say that Shael has seen everything the world has to offer, it's just she has a hard time getting excited about new things when a lot of the time those new things end up being bad in the long run. Having someone aside from her drake to experience new things with does help rekindle some of that wanderlust, if only a little bit at a time. 

Shael had hoped that going to the Crescent Isles would be an easy way to avoid getting caught up in any trouble. Ha! As if. Along their journey, they started picking up rumors of unrest in the nation. Something about brooding tensions between a local faction and the crown. What else is new? Seems everyone has a problem with the monarchy in one way or another these days. But something about this situation seems a bit off. Hearing that the Crown itself was directly diverting traffic away from a popular trading hub just seems like they're punishing the wrong folks, taking out their frustrations on the working folk rather than this oni-whositwhatsits. No wonder people are pissed.

Then again, that makes the old mining town a good place to try and get some cheap lodgings for a while. Less folks coming through means the prices will be lower and they'll have less of a chance of running into any weirdos looking for trouble. Having a whole town to themselves sounds like the perfect little vacation. 

Sure enough, it was easy to acquire lodgings after arriving in town. Shael was a bit surprised at how warm the reception was given that most people get a little spooked about strangers arriving on the back of a drake, but the locals were quick to make them feel welcome as long as they proved to have some coin to spend. If this were Darkveil she would half expect the locals to kill them in the middle of the night to take all their coins, but these folks don't seem that desperate. Yet. 

They end up finding rooms in a small roadside in that is pretty well kept, though is definitely emptier than the owner would like. The half-grem owner gives them a really good deal on one of the rooms and even throws in complimentary breakfast to sweeten the deal. Shael thinks the woman is just trying to butter them up so they spend more on food and drink while in town, oh, and not to mention the steep price of putting Indra up in the stable down the road. That cost isn't unexpected, most places charge an arm and a leg for feeding and putting a roof over a drake's head compared to a donkey or horse. Indra's appetite is more than healthy enough to each a small family out of house and home after all. 

It's fine though, the inn is more than worth the cost as it includes access to the local bathhouse just a few doors down. The Crescent Isles bathhouses are world-famous for their soothing mineral spring water. Shael's never gotten to experience it for herself, so she's pretty excited to have the chance. She's also eager to drag Eva along, pretty sure her fellow elf probably hasn't had a decent bath in...probably forever with the way she smells. 

After they've had a chance to get Indra settled at the stables and their stuff - okay mostly Shael's stuff - is dropped off at the inn, the pair wander down to the bathhouse. While they're getting instructions from the owner on how the bathhouse works - apparently it's a more involved process than just yeeting yourself into the pools - some other folks hanging around the establishment are engaged in some pretty intense whispers. 

"Juni saw it again last night, just outside their daughter's window." 

"Hoo...that's awful. Did it say anything?"

"No, it just lingered in the window, staring at them with black eyes." 

"A shame. I always thought they handled the funeral well but..."

"It's unfortunate, but they will just have to find someone to help them cleanse the home now." 

"I heard that Sunye also saw the ghost of her brother last week." 

"He drowned a year ago, didn't he? Why would his spirit haunt her now?"

"Seems the spirits are restless, but what can we do? No mediums will travel here after the Crown's orders..."

Shael really hates getting caught up in local problems, but it's hard not to overhear what these people are whispering about. Once the bathhouse owner gives them some flip-flops, a set of towels, and some robes, Shael tugs on Eva's sleeve to get her to follow after her to a private changing room. 

"Geez, let's hope these ghosts people are talking about aren't fans of hot springs," she jokes, trying to lighten the mood over the gloomy atmosphere left by those other folks and their superstitions. 

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Howls of the Past
Participants: Two or more
Location: Crescent Isles
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: Ability to take on Part 2, +1 Renown
Description: The locals of Sunset Pass have started seeing apparitions and believe it to be the souls of deceased inhabitants who used to populate the area. Under order of the Crown and the Council of Travel and Trade, traffic has been diverted from this once populous travel hub, and the remaining locals have all but given up hope. They say that at night they can see shapes moving in the forests and near the old Mines. The Crown believes the Oniwanban are behind the disturbance and are using the mines as a base of operations; however the Oniwanban believe the exact same about the Crown. Grand Chancellor Lao is requesting that someone goes in and unveils whoever is behind these faux hauntings.

Your investigations reveal that neither group is behind the hauntings - rather, members of the Lunar Rebels, a group actively fighting against the crown in Moonglade, are behind the occurrences. It is believed that they are purposefully stirring up conflict between the Oniwanban and the Crown on purpose, as a war between the two only benefits their cause in Moonglade.

Go check out new lands, they said. It will be fun, they said. Experience the warmer weather for a change, they said.

They forgot to mention Scaley McTerrify over here, the Fire-Breather Extraordinaire (Assumed, not clarified, she doesn't even know if she wants to know the extensive list of its abilities yet). This Scorchy McFright in its majestic form looked like it could use Eva as a toothpick after a meal, let alone gobbling her up at one bite. It wasn't that she was scared - No, listen, she really was fine with this snack-sized nightmare tasting a test sample of her hair and looking satisfied with itself for it. This is normal. People chill with their pet behemoths all the time.

Totally normal behaviour.

And yet Indra didn't trigger Eva's fight-or-flight response even once, nor did she feel her heart freeze. She didn't experience the heavy drop that comes with the urge to hide, the fear she’s come to recognize and manipulate better than any other feeling she learned. It was almost as if her heart and brain recognized the scaled titan's lack of a threatening aura at separate moments. Where her heart welcomed the gentle drake almost instantly, warming up to it to the point that she realized she was standing very, quite extremely close—closer than she would have if she had any control over her body—her brain was too focused on... well. 'Big, so it must be scary.' How very primeval.

Instead, shedding her prejudice and fear that never quite took over, she found herself giggling at the slob she felt painting her. The gentle push of the tongue pushing her much smaller body slightly to lean to the other side, as Eva felt a little off balance. "Cute sidekick." She heard herself commenting, not even being able to fight back a smile that spread on her face.

"When you said noble steed, I was expecting something more....on land." She confided in Shael, once they started soaring in the skies. If she was holding on a little tighter than necessary, her expression remained perfectly stable to combat any potential call outs. "But this is fine." She added nonchalantly, but there was nothing nonchalant about the way she felt right now. The one good eye she had felt overworked from the way she kept tilting her head around to be able to cover all around them, observing the vast sky, and the lands they cross, weather too heavy around them to carry her words without raising her voice. So she kept her thoughts to herself for now, keeping a mental travel journal; where she didn't need to draw new symbols, since she never had the need to make up signs for what she might encounter through sky travel before.

Entry number one: The clouds are big, fat, fluffy liars.

The crystal golem that's holding an iron pot, an alligator with a tail playing the fiddle... The sky which was her visual novel disappears into a fog of smoke the closer you are to it. Soon they're going through mist, and it's when Eva realizes they're passing through the clouds themselves, the fluffy white cushions which always seemed much more comfortable than the snow she'd sometimes settle on. Certainly must be warmer, she thought. But as she felt the tiny water droplets form on her face, the moisture around her made her shiver lightly. It was cold, damp, and humid. As far as potential beds go Eva would've rated it 6/10, but the points take a deep dive down to 0/10, the same way she would've into becoming nothing, were she to try to actually lay on them. Clouds up close? Not a great experience, no.

But once they dissipated, the scene that unfolded before Eva was nothing short of breath-taking. While Shael had grown accustomed to the realm's grandeur spread out below, the less-experienced traveller found herself utterly captivated. The green lava grows in the pit of her stomach again, wondering how it would be to be able to reach this view at any time in your expense. Soaring the skies like you are part of the stories the clouds painted, no jungled letters, no runes. As far as ugly feelings go, Eva considered envy to be one of the lesser evils. It was a cousin to admiration. Distant cousin.

Even though Eva gradually loosened her grip and enjoyed the grand tour a la inferno beast, she felt naked up here. Exposed. The blinding glare of the golden rays took away all her shades, casting an imposing darkness over the beautiful tapestry of nature unfolding below them.

Entry Number Two: Landings can be pretty tough.

Just a moment ago, the wind had been a relentless presence against her skin. Now, she found herself disoriented on her feet, stabilizing herself by gently resting her hand on Shael's arm until the dizziness subsided. “That was...” She glanced at Indra, then shyly withdrew her hand, rubbing it softly on her clothes as if to smooth out the creases and regain her composure. "Thanks!" She directed it towards the majestic creature - frankly, after spending a long time in the air with just that body being her shield between her and certain death, she didn't see the point in being wary of it anymore. A genuine smile broke her usually harsh features for a second as she kept her gaze on the drake, suddenly making her look more her age, than a hardened street vagabond.

The reaction of the locals surprised Eva, as much as it did Shael - if not a little bit more, drilling in the realization that she might be one of the few people on the realm with the least experience of the outside world. Maybe a part of it was because she practically raised herself, with extremely limited sources- but as Eva continued to spend time with Shael, she understood more and more that it was her cowardice that put her in a safe box, no way in, no way out. Well, that was about to change. And she's already taken several steps towards that goal.

Step 1; Leave Frost Gale. Although she didn't particularly realize it while they were travelling, Eva was beginning to feel the difference of how her clothes felt on her. The whiplash of feeling indoor warmth while still being in the streets was a new, but welcome experience.

Step 2; Mount a drake. Okay, so, if it was up to her, maybe this wouldn't be so high up on the list of things she'd want to conquer. Not that she was complaining. Even without saying, Eva knew if they were to travel by any other forms of transportation, they were still within the borders of Frost Gale.

Step 3; Let Shael take care of everything.

The inn they eventually settle in seemed cozy enough, but Eva hadn't been picky at all. Even though it did make her fingers itch a little when she heard the price of the room, pulling Shael aside to suggest a (very reasonable) alternative. "You know, we could just stay here for the price of one. You could go in, and I'd sneak in without anyone noticing." She could also teach Indra to stay very, very still so that the shadows could swirl around her form, to the point where locals wouldn't be able to even know she's there - but, she didn't know if it was possible, nor did she even know how she'd be able to teach something that comes almost naturally to her at this point. She never tried to teach it to anyone else before, so that cost Shael had to part with, will forever stay as a wound in Eva's heart.

All things aside, Eva hardly contained her excitement as they started to head towards the bathhouse. The thought of sinking into the soothing mineral springs was almost too good to be true. For years, she’d been sneaking into the baths of unsuspecting townsfolk or making do with whatever water she could find in the wilderness. This would be her first chance to indulge in a proper, uninterrupted soak without worrying about making a hasty exit if someone discovered her.

For all the denying Shael was doing since Eva came up with the nickname, the girl was starting to think there might be actually some kind of truth to her being a guardian angel after all. If anything, meeting her had already started to drastically change Eva's life.

Overwhelmed with anticipation, Eva could hardly register the whispers of the restless spirits. The idea of ghosts seemed almost trivial, compared to the luxury of a good bath. She was ready to leave behind the grime, and dust - and she could blame the travel on it, but doubted the present company would even buy it. Then again, Eva thought, considering she did buy the tale of her being a princess before, so maybe despite her tough exterior, Shael was just very, extremely gullible enough to fall for it. But being in such a revered establishment she wouldn't even dare to imagine overwhelmed her curiosity to mess around for now.

As Shael tugged her towards the private changing room, Eva couldn’t help but to chuckle softly, though a little mischievously. "You know," she began in a low, almost worried tone, "there's an old legend that I've heard from a wanderer once. They say that people who die by drowning don't just pass on. Instead, their spirits become trapped in the very waters where they met their end."

Leaning in a bit closer, her voice dropped to a whisper. "The legend claims that these restless souls are condemned to remain in the depths, bound forever. But here's the truly frightening part." She paused for a moment, letting the suspense build. "The only way they can escape their torment is by swapping places with someone else."

It took her only another minute before breaking into a wide grin perhaps for the first time, exposing two dimples as she nestled into the warmth of the bath, letting out a contented sigh. Euphoria. Her smile faltered only as she sank deeper into the bath, savouring the warmth only to be shattered by a sudden, faint noise. It was a soft, rustling sound, like something being dragged across the wooden floor.

Now, perhaps if she hadn't gotten too into her imagination only moments ago, the more logical side of her brain could've helped her out. It often did -- well, it tried. But for whatever reason, at this particular moment, Eva's brain decided to alert all her cells with paranoia, forcing her eyes to dart around the room, allowing her imagination to run wild with the thought of unseen figures lurking just beyond her view, or a hand dragging her to the bottom of the water.

"Shael!" Her voice came out as a strained whisper, eyes widening in fear. "Did you hear that?" A stark contrast to the playful lying tone, she seemed genuinely tense.

Now. If Eva had been able to think clearly, she might have realized that they were in a busy bathhouse, and the sounds she heard were likely just staff preparing for the next guests. But with the unsettling memories of the ghost stories she’d spun just moments before, her imagination was running wild.

“Yeah, well, let this be a lesson about making assumptions,” Shael teases. She could have corrected Eva before introducing Eva to Indra, but she thought it would be funnier to see the look on her face as the storm drake appeared out of the cloudy skies over the Pale City and land in the street scattering snowflakes left and right. She was not wrong.

The large silver drake is a sight to behold if you’ve only ever heard of dragonkin in the bard song sung in taverns or the drawings in pages of picture books. Ice drakes native to Frost Gale tend to be heavy-bodied and can sometimes be pretty shaggy, impotant physical adaptations to ensure their survival in the constant blizzards ad harsh cold of the region. This is in sharp contrast to the storm drakes of Dragon’s Cradle. They’re lithe and built for speed and aerial acrobatics. They can dip and dive through storm clouds, weaving their way past the near-constant lightning strikes with incredible agility.

Despite their natural speed, the journey to the Crescent Isles is still a long one, so it’s a relief to finally be done with flying for at least a few days of rest and relaxation.

Shael takes a mental note of how much money she has left to spend as Eva tries to argue they could just sneak her in.

“It’s not a big deal. Better to just pay for things and not risk getting run out of town or have any guards sent after us.”

Normally she wouldn’t have any problem with pulling a fast one in a town she wasn’t likely to ever come back to. But at the same time, not her money, so not her problem. And these people have been really nice so far and seem to be having a bad time. Sometimes you just want to do the normal boring thing cause it’s a break from being an asshole.

It’s as much for her own benefit as it is Eva’s. They both don’t get the chance to do what ‘normal’ people do. Aaaand then Eva starts telling a spooky story. Maybe normal just isn’t something they’re capable of.

“Well, that’s a cheery tale to be telling in a bathhouse of all places. Lots of water, y’know.”

Some details of Eva’s tale sound pretty familiar. She’s sure that folks in the Crescent Isles actually believe that spirits can be trapped or linger in places where they died. So it could be real. Ghosts are real after all. She thinks. Undead definitely are.

She rests her head back and closes her eyes, letting the warm water seep into her skin and starting to feel like she can relax her tense muscles. They get a few moments of peace before Eva’s hiss of a whisper breaks the silence.

“What noise?”

Shael sits up a little and listens for whatever Eva heard. Sure enough, there’s another rustle of something dragging across the floor just outside their door in the hall. It could just be the hosts dragging something but…there’s a notable lack of footsteps accompanying the dragging noise.

Considering they’re two young clearly foreign women, Shael isn’t about to dismiss any instincts giving bad vibes. She gets out of the water as quietly as she can and puts a finger to her lips to signal to Eva to stay quiet. She then wraps a towel around herself before grabbing a nearby bucket with soapy water in it and skulking over to the door.

In one swift motion, she flings the sliding door open and throws the soapy water on whatever it is outside when the dragging sound is the loudest.

“Take this, ghost!”

The soapy water and subsequently, the bucket, fly through the air before Shael really bothered to confirm if anything really was there. There’s a dull thud of the bucket hitting something before it clatters loudly to the floor and rolling a bit. It comes to rest next to what looks like the unconscious - or maybe even dead - body of some random guy. The soapy water, however, hovers in the air and drips off of the vague form of someone cloaked invisibility.

“Oh…fuck.” Shael slams the door shut. “Good news, not a ghost, bad news, probably a murderer.”

The door then slides back open loudly and the body is flung inside while Shael is shoved into the bath.

“Ack!” She exclaims as she lands in the water with a splash.

The door then slides closed again before the soapy but still invisible individual manifests before their eyes. The individual is a tall half-elf wearing well-worn dark leathers and a cloak. A silver sword is sheathed at his side. He listens for a moment for anyone coming before turning and looking down at the pair with the most unimpressed expression one could make.

Shael pops her head back out of the water and coughs. When she’s able to wipe the water from her eyes, she gets a good look at the interloper and her expression immediately sours.

“The fuck, man?! What are you doing here??”

The half-elf puts a finger to his mouth.

“Don’t shush me, you ass! We thought some ghost was gonna haunt us or something but it turns out it’s just you skulking around. And did you kill that guy?? What the hell??”

The man rolls his eyes and holds up his hands and starts making a sequence of gestures. Shael huffs but pays attention. She’s still not the best at understanding sign language, but she’s started to pick up a little bit of it from her time working alongside this very guy. She scoffs.

“Mission, huh? Is that mission to drag me back to Darkveil?”

The man shakes his head and makes a few more gestures.

“Ugh, I have the worst luck if this is all just a coincidence.” Shael flops the now sodden towel onto the edge of the pool. The half-elf quickly spins on his heel to face away from them both. “Oh, don’t go acting all respectful now, you perv.”

The man signs again. It’s clear from the sharpness of his gestures that he is arguing.

Shael pays his retort no mind and instead turns her attention back to Eva. “So, yeah, definitely a murderer. He won’t kill us though. Eva, Eirynor, Eirynor, Eva. He doesn’t talk and is like the personal bodyguard of the sister of the guy who kidnapped me. Apparently, he wasn’t expecting to run into me here either and is on some mission that involves killing some probably totally innocent civilian.”

Eirynor gives a short wave, still not facing them.

Eva giggles lightly at Shael's reaction to her story. "Stick around—I’ve got a tale for every disaster." It’s a collection she takes pride in—every tale and song a bard has ever shared, every whisper and gossip that has travelled through her streets. They are her solace in the cold.

Though she has to admit, the warm bathwater is definitely the winner compared to stories. If only the noise hadn’t ruined it. Following Shael’s lead, she purses her lips and slides further into the water, finding a spot where she can stay hidden at first sight, ready to pounce if needed. Wrapping herself in a towel? That isn’t a concern right now.

"Take this, ghost!"

Eva braces herself to jump out and aid Shael, but before she can, a splash of soapy water hits her face. She quickly glances at the other girl, relieved to see her unharmed.

Eva’s gaze then shifts to the half-elf, taking in the scene with a mixture of shock and annoyance. Soapy water still clings to the edges of his cloak, and the unconscious—or possibly dead—body lies sprawled on the floor like some bizarre afterthought. She blinks, trying to process everything that has just happened. Even for her, it’s a lot to absorb, though she isn’t exactly unfamiliar with dead bodies.

"Ah."

Then chaos ensues. She watches in bemusement as the half-elf starts bickering with Shael—well, as much as one can bicker when only one of them speaks, while the other answers with animated gestures. Even Eva can grasp the meaning behind those. She stays quiet, observing as they finish their ‘conversation,’ silently absorbing the information, though most of it doesn’t mean much to her. She isn’t even sure if the guy has noticed her in the water. Although she has stopped hiding once Shael fell back in, she wouldn’t be surprised if he is already aware.

It’s slightly uncomfortable, considering she is naked. Her dark skin is littered with scars—a particularly noticeable one on her arm, a half-spelled dwarven rune that marks her as a thief.

"When you say you’ll introduce me to some guys, I wasn’t expecting it to be while I’m naked," she quips, amusement clear in her voice, especially since Eirynor is now refusing to face them.

"Fantastic. An assassin with manners. Just what we need to liven up our day. Shael, just out of curiosity, do all your acquaintances come with a side of potential homicide, or is this just a special occasion?"

Her tone is teasing, not genuinely upset, as she relaxes back into the bath, though she keeps a curious eye on Eirynor. "Nothing says ‘relaxing bath’ like the looming presence of a professional killer. Really sets the mood. Is he going to stand guard while we finish our bath? That’s not awkward at all."

The situation has taken a sharp turn into the bizarre, but at least now she has something else to focus on—figuring out what this guy’s mission is and why it involves taking out the nice staff who’ve helped them earlier.

Also, does this mean they can get their payment back?

Pausing for a moment, her gaze drifts back to the unmoving body with a hint of curiosity. After a thoughtful beat, she muses, "By the way, do you reckon his ghost will be adding us to its haunted itinerary? I’ve got a nagging feeling we might have just made their undead problem a little worse." A hum. "Well, not we. Him. But I guess we're in it together now seeing you two know each other. What's our plan now?"

Eirynor signs that this was not exactly his plan or intention, but Shael doesn't feel the need to translate to Eva for him. She instead crosses her arms and sits back against the edge of the bath with a huff.

"I'm pretty sure most of the jerks I know are murderers. Especially the ones associated with his lot." 

Her luck with surrounding herself with upstanding people is not very good. But maybe that says more about the kind of person she is rather than the company she keeps. 

"I still don't get why you're even here. These people are nice and just trying to live their lives for Gods' sake." 

Eirynor makes a few more gestures trying to explain that he's here to put a stop to the undead problem. 

Shael scoffs. "Yeah, no, I think you're adding to the problem like Eva says." 

The mute half-elf sighs and signs again, explaining that the bathkeepers are not as innocent as they seem. Something about them being in league with those who are responsible for the ghost sightings which actually might not even be real ghosts. He makes some signs that Shael doesn't know what they mean, her understanding of sign language isn't exactly complete to begin with. Not that she really cares for the details of the explanation, it's not going to make her any less bitter to have had their nice evening ruined by an unwanted intruder. 

"Whatever. We don't care and we don't want to be involved." 

Eirynor scowls a bit, he doesn't want them involved either. The pair's presence here only makes his job more complicated. He huffs and hauls the body up off the floor. There's no pool of blood or anything so seems like the guy is only knocked out and not stabbed to death. He quietly leans his ear against the door to listen for anyone who might have heard the earlier commotion and is on their way to check on things. Luckily for him, there's no sound of any footsteps approaching down the hall. He signs to the pair that they saw nothing then he disappears back through the door with the unconscious body slung over his shoulder. 

"Ugh. I hate him so much. The plan is we pretend nothing is wrong. If someone comes asking we were just here which isn't a lie. And if that doesn't work then we make a run for it and leave him to clean up his own mess. I don't have any problem with throwing his ass under the wagon wheels if we need to." 

At least, that's her own feelings about the situation. Eva might not share the sentiment, and there's always a risk that they might get pulled into this situation more now or that they might get blamed for whatever is going on. Sometimes feigning innocence doesn't work, especially when you're strangers in a tight-knit community that already is very much on edge. 

Leaning against the bath’s edge, her eyes follow Eirynor as he drags the unconscious body out of sight. She seems almost amused by the chaos unfolding, letting out a small, casual sigh. This wasn’t exactly the evening she had planned, but at this point, she’s not surprised by how quickly things spiral out of control.

"Yeah, I’m with you," she says to Shael, her voice calm and unbothered. "Pretending we didn’t see anything sounds nice and simple. But the way I see it, if the bathkeepers are neck-deep in whatever ghost nonsense is going on here, pretending we didn’t see anything is just asking to be the lucky winners of the blame game. I don't think either of us would like to get hauled off for someone else's haunted house theatrics."

The weight of the situation seemingly rolls off her shoulders as she shrugs. "Seems to me we’ve got two options. We can pretend everything’s fine and cross our fingers that we won’t get dragged into it. Or..." She pauses for a moment, letting a smirk tug at her lips. "We could poke around and figure out what’s really going on—probably handle it better than your friend back there, and without adding to the body count, if we're feeling generous."

It takes a moment for her to consider it all, but there's no real tension in her body—just idle curiosity. "If these folks really are tied to the fake hauntings, we might be sitting right in the middle of something a lot bigger than we realize. Could be interesting... or a complete disaster. Either way, I’ve got to admit, I’m a little curious now."

Eva flicks her gaze lazily toward the door Eirynor disappeared through. She didn't understand anything he was trying to communicate to them, but understands the gist of it. It would probably be easy for all parties involved if Eva and Shael pretended to not see anything, and enjoy their impromptu trip, but something also keeps digging in her gut, mixed with encouraged curiosity and also a little bit of thrill of the mystery. Eva's never been the kind to bother herself in other people's businesses but she also could never resist a good story. "He’s definitely holding out on us. Could be worth squeezing a bit more out of him before we end up neck-deep in this mess. Play nice for now, keep an eye on things—then, if it all goes south? We could always victoriously flee for our lives."

It's followed by a light chuckle and a shaking of her head, Eva feels weirdly calm inside the hot water, feeling not only the dirt, but also the varying degrees of stress leave her body. Perhaps it was what gave her the confidence for looking into it, feeling more courageous even if only a moment earlier she was scared of her own ghost story. But ghosts are easier to deal with than actual people, and the young dark elf experienced how cruel flesh can be, that it would make a malicious spirit look like an angel. "We can throw him under the wagon if we need to—but I’d rather we don’t get crushed under it along the way."

Eva casually taps her fingers against the edge of the bath, looking more intrigued than concerned. "The question is, do we wait for him to come back, or do we start digging for answers ourselves?" She glances at her fingertips, amused by the wrinkles forming from how long she’s been in the water. "I also wouldn't mind grabbing something to eat first."

Shael gives Eva a disgruntled look. She doesn’t want to get involved with whatever Eirynor is up to and she definitely doesn’t want Eva getting roped into a bunch of mob crime finally bullshit either. Eva might be a criminal herself but these people who are in organized crime syndicates operate on a completely different level. They're not petty thieves or street crooks just trying to survive in a society that shunned them, they're people who took one look at the systems put in place to maintain order and decided none of that applies to them.

Admittedly, Shael is not exactly a model citizen either, but she knows that some rules gotta exist just to have an even slightly functional society. These kinds of people just don't give a shit, and getting dragged into their schemes means nothing but trouble.

Then again, the idea of solving whatever this mystery is before Eirynor does then being able to rub that in his dumb face does sound like fun…

“Fine. We’ll look around, but the second something goes sideways we ditch his ass. Got it?”

Shael finishes her bath and towels off before throwing her clothes back on. Once Eva has done the same, she steps out of the room and locates Eirynor trying to hide the body in a closet.

“Hey, jerkface.”

Eirynor startles and glances back at the two thankfully-now-clothed girls.

“We’ll look into this whole ghost business thing so try to keep out of our way.”

The half-elven man furrows his brow and makes a few motions that clearly are in protest of the idea. Lots of head shaking and hand waving that Shael simply ignores as she tromps through the bathhouse with Eva to start their own investigation into the hauntings.

But not before searching out a snacky treat to fuel their efforts. It doesn’t take them long to find some snacks that were left out on a table in a room with the door left slide open. This was probably where the man Eirynor knocked out was before as there are signs of a bit of a struggle with the sitting cushions being left askew and a pastry having one bite taken out of it.

Shael offers some of the food to Eva. Apparently her whole insistence on paying for things and being honest has already gone out the window.

Eirynor isn’t far behind them, having finished covering his tracks and now turning his attention to trying to keep the girls from making the situation worse. He pulls a notebook out of his pocket and starts scribbling down some words furiously then he shows it to Eva, hoping that she’ll listen to him better than Shael.

There’s a strange feeling that Eva’s slowly getting used to. A mixture of things she’s never quite had the leisure to feel before. Joy. Giddiness. Excitement. Playfulness. Camaraderie. Trust.

Of course, if anyone asked Eva, or challenged her to spill her guts (figuratively, not literally—though she'd be hesitant to do that as well), she’d deny it as strongly as she would deny the questionable source of many of her possessions, including the various bracelets stacked on her wrist.

This was the first time Eva had felt anything close to friendship. She wouldn’t dare call it that, not out loud, fearing it might be one-sided. There’s nothing more mortifying than being wrong about that kind of thing. Well, almost nothing... being naked at a murder scene also might make the cut. Still, the idea of exploring and adventuring with Shael sounds… well, exciting. Even without the expertise to match hers, Eva is certain the two of them could beat Eirynor (the mysterious, silent, and actually kind of good-looking guy) to whatever treasure they set their minds on. She nods a few times, lips quirking in a small smile as she agrees to the plan.

As Shael explains the plan to the older man, Eva busies herself by starting to braid her long hair - now clean and looking much more bright in comparison, although not a great shock considering the last time she was able to take a bath had been two weeks ago. In fact, she was kind of mourning the warm water already. She was hoping to spend more time in there, until she felt all her skin shriveled, making her look like an almost expired human, or a very dried olive.


She finds herself almost smiling as she watches the older man’s frustrated gestures. His hands fly around, big, dramatic movements accentuated by the sharp hiss of the wind, and yet Shael calmly ignores him. Following Shael’s lead, Eva keeps silent, letting her amusement show only in the small tug of her lips.

When they come across a stash of snacks, Eva hops up to sit on the counter and eagerly takes a few offered treats. She’s halfway through chewing with a level of satisfaction only hunger can create when Eirynor hands her a slip of paper covered in scribbles. She stares at it, her brow furrowing as she tries to make sense of the scrawled lines. It must be some words...

Or maybe the man is just really, really bad at drawing.

An umbrella? No, maybe it’s a chair? Next to it, a stick figure clutching its stomach, possibly in agony? She glances warily at the snack in her hand. Surely it can’t be poisoned? She’d expect more frantic gestures from Eirynor if that were the case. And he would probably try to get it across to Shael, instead of Eva, who's not used to the communication style of gestures yet.

Eva takes another bite, her focus narrowed on the strange linear illustrations. A bird. A man. Two snakes. The man throws a fireball, and the snakes appear to die. Fascinating.

In the next set, the man encounters yet another snake. Maybe the city has a serious snake problem.

She squints at a few more shapeless doodles. A dead snake. Another stomach ache. Snake venom, she concludes—it makes perfect sense now. Perhaps the last remaining snake has taken up dead snakes as a makeshift shield.

"Okay, got it. We’ll keep an eye out for snakes." she says solemnly, nodding as she hands the paper back to Eirynor, clearly satisfied with her hard work deciphering whatever message he was trying to convey.

Hopping off the counter with a newfound spring in her step, she brushes crumbs from her hands. She glances back at the snacks, her gaze lingering for a beat before she nonchalantly scoops up a few more pastries, tucking them into her satchel with practiced ease. With her supplies now "replenished," she's ready to follow behind Shael's steps, walking up to her to whisper. "Your friend told me that there are snakes who are resistant to fireballs. Or regular balls. I'm not exactly sure but it was definitely something ballsy that kill them."

Eirynor frowns and looks down at his own notes in complete befuddlement. Snakes? What? He didn’t write anything about snakes. What??

He’s distracted long enough for the two girls to finish their snack and start their investigation of the bathhouse for any foul play.

Shael starts wandering about the halls in search of anything suss, but doesn’t find much out of the ordinary in the linen closets and decorative side tables.

“Pfft, okay,” she says in response to Eva’s message. She doesn’t believe that’s what Eirynor was likely trying to communicate at all, but she also doesn’t want to give the man the time of day.

As they continue to investigate room after room, it actually gets a little unnerving just how empty the place is. Many of the rooms are completely undisturbed and clean as a whistle as if waiting in anticipation for guests to arrive. It’s a bit sad knowing that the town is struggling with attracting visitors. How many times have they just dusted rooms that no one is using?

It’s also eerily quiet, with only the odd occasional creek of a floorboard under foot breaking the silence. Did Eirynor take out everyone else that was here? There had to be more than just the one guy right? Hadn’t they seen at least one other person when they entered the establishment?

Great.

Shael can’t remember and is now starting to gaslight herself.

That momentary lapse in paying attention though does put her in a position where she’s standing absentmindedly near a window looking out in the darkened forest behind the bathhouse. Movement between the bamboo shoots catches her attention, and she peers through the glass only to see a fearsome wooden mask depicting an oni staring back at her.

Shael stares blankly back at the face in the window for a moment, her brain taking a second or two to register what she’s even looking at before it cocks its head.

“Oh, shi-”

The mask suddenly darts back into the bamboo and vanishes into the darkness.

“HEY! COME BACK HERE YOU CREEPY GHOST THING!” Shael shouts and throws the window open before jumping through and giving chase.

Eirynor hears the commotion and tries to catch up to the pair of teens before they get in over their heads chasing whatever it is they found.

While Eva’s idea of "investigating" usually involves more "finding" than reporting, she’s expert at shifting things to new, more interesting locations--particularly under no one’s watchful eye. Her fingers close around an appealing candle holder, brass from the looks of it. A quick inspection shows it’s untarnished and free of any scratches, with a hint of craftsmanship in the metalwork that suggests it might even be worth something. Not that she has time to debate; it’s light, fits easily in her hand, and is quickly stashed in her bag for later.

The rest of her search, however, is less fruitful... No secret safes, hidden journals, or jewellery lying around begging for a new home. It’s all disappointingly simple, eerily vacant even, with nothing worth taking. Shael would probably pity the lack of visitors, but for Eva, it’s a missed opportunity in a different sense--not entirely unrelated to that pity, either.

Eva is crouched down, tugging at a drawer to see if there’s a hidden compartment beneath it, when Shael’s sudden shout jolts her. She barely catches a glimpse of Shael darting out the window before vanishing into the night. Well, there’s really only one thing to do. Without a second thought, Eva bolts after her, leaping through the open window in a swift pursuit.

"YEAH, GHOST, STOP!" she shouts, her voice echoing through the darkened alley as she sprints to keep pace with Shael. "Stop in the name of—" She pauses to think up something alarming enough for any ghostly eavesdroppers. A quick glance over her shoulder confirms that Eirynor is lagging behind them, the distance between them stretching. But Eva doesn’t worry about him at the moment.

"—the thirteen sacred vipers of Zeinav! We've got a snakemonger among us, and he's got their venom! Which is particularly nasty for spirits, you know! They don’t call him Snake-Bane for nothing!"

She assumes Eirynor wouldn't mind her using him as a threat for the spirits, considering he's the one who warned her about the snakes. She'd use herself as the bait, but honestly, he seems much more capable in handling it if the ghost suddenly decides that it wants to attack instead of run away. 

She isn’t sure if the threat of snake venom is enough to compel a ghost to stop and face them, but it’s the only lead she has. Glancing back over her shoulder to catch Eirynor's gaze, she gives him an enthusiastic thumbs-up before sprinting forward to close the gap with Shael.

"So, what's our plan here?" she gasps between breaths, her heart racing in time with her hurried steps. The thrill of the chase courses through her veins, mingling with a sense of urgency that spurs her on.

Eirynor winces at Eva’s shouting. Both of these damn teens are so loud and seemingly are going out of their way to make his job so much more complicated. He chases after them as they pursue the ‘ghost’ fleeing from the bathhouse. Something is very off about this whole situation, but right now the swordsman has to make sure that his one lead doesn’t get away.

The masked apparition glances back over their shoulder as they dart between the stands of bamboo and trees. They’re adept at navigating in the dark forest and are quick to jump a few fences between footpaths that cut through the dense foliage.

Shael vaults over the fence and keeps up the pursuit. She’s got enough experience from her time with the Dvoryanin running after runaway mounts to be able to keep up the chase. However, the uneven ground in the dark is not making it easy. She huffs and shouts over her shoulder at Eva who is hot on her heels.

“Hell if I know, but that ghost isn’t going to get away so easily!” The teen puts her fingers to her mouth and lets out an ear-piercing whistle.

Their prey takes that as a cue to up their efforts to escape. A flash of silver swings out from beneath their clothing, slicing through a number of tall bamboo shoots that start falling across the path behind them.

Shael sees this and immediately jumps to a conclusion.

“Oh, buddy! You better hope we don’t catch you! What does a ghost need a sword for, huh?!”

She darts to the side and tries to circle around and cut off their escape, but as she pushes out into an opening she’s greeted by nothing but the chill night air and canopy of stars hanging in the night sky.

Looking around, she can’t see hide or tail of the ghoul. “Dammit, where’d that masked freak go? And what is taking Indra so long?”

Eirynor finally catches up with the pair and pauses to catch his breath before signing irritated at them. His complaints go ignored once again, and Shael takes a closer look around the clearing. Having enough of this, Eirynor steps up to Shael and tries to grab her writs to make her stop.

“Hey! Get off me!”

Needless to say, Shael isn’t a fan of that and smacks his hand away while stepping back. A thin, nearly invisible wire catches on the back of her heel and there’s a twang noise as a hidden trap is set off. A net with several weighted stones comes out of nowhere and slams into the ground, knocking them to the ground.

“Gah!” Shael grunts as Eirynor falls on her and the back of her head hits the dirt hard.

Eirynor tries to get back up onto his feet and reaches for his blade just as a shadow darts out of the forest and breaks a thick stick over the half-elf’s head, knocking him out.

More shadows emerge from the forest and surround the group. In the low light, it's hard to make out any real details other than all the individuals wear those same fearsome masks. It's the last thing anyone in the group sees before everything goes dark.

If there’s only a few things Eva is good at, running definitely makes the top of the short list. She’s light on her feet, good breath control, almost impossible to stumble or fall with reflexes quick as a cat’s.^[1] Sure, usually she’s the one running away rather than the one doing the chasing, but it’s all the same either way.

She only has to be aware of her surroundings.

And it’s night, in a foreign land, in a strange forest. The kind of place where the shadows stretch too far, where the air is thick and clinging, and every sound feels like it has teeth. There’s a lot to look out for, more than she can possibly track, and Eva’s mind is running faster than her legs, scrambling to keep up with all the warning signs. Every rustle of leaves or snap of a twig sets her nerves buzzing, her good eye darting between movement and shadow, trying to separate imagined threats from real ones.

Why would a ghost run away when it could’ve just disappeared?

It doesn’t make sense, and that’s what bothers her the most. Ghosts aren’t supposed to behave like this. A part of her, a very small, deeply buried part, wonders if they’ve stumbled into something worse. Something that doesn’t need to vanish because it knows exactly how to lure you where it wants. But no, ghosts are bad enough. She shakes the thought off and focuses on the path ahead, though the path itself feels wrong somehow. Twisted, unfamiliar. The trees seem to lean closer the farther they go, as if listening. If it's a trap, it's a clever one. Eva didn't think ghosts were capable of those.

Instead, she keeps her focus locked on Shael, refusing to let her out of sight. Her legs move on instinct, leaping easily over the bamboos thrown in their path. Another clumsy attempt to throw them off course. Still, it barely slows her down, and she’s almost impressed by how easily she handles it, her feet skimming over the ground like she’s made for this.

But then Shael stops.

Eva pulls up short, coming to a halt beside her, her breaths quick and quiet as she squints ahead in suspicion. Her mind races with questions. She follows Shael’s gaze into the darkness, trying to make sense of it, but all she finds is silence.

Well, there you go--the ghost disappears. Of course it does. It should've disappeared much sooner before the chase, though.

And now they’re stuck, stranded in the middle of nowhere. The forest feels impossibly vast and empty all at once, the kind of place where echoes linger too long. Far away from the warm food, and the even warmer bath...

She takes a moment to catch her breath, using the time to scan the area, looking for any sign the ghost might still be hiding. Even if it vanished, the sword should’ve fallen, right? Unless the sword was also a ghost... Could swords die?

Lost in her swirling thoughts, Eva doesn’t notice the quick argument flaring between Shael and Eirynor. Their words are just background noise, drowned out by her own focus on the strange stillness around them. By the time she realizes something’s wrong, it’s already too late.

She turns sharply, the movement snapping her back to the present, just in time to see her friend trigger the trap.

"Shael!"

The world shifts in an instant. A net drops from above, too fast to dodge, dragging her down with a force that punches the air from her lungs. She crashes to the ground hard, the sharp edge of a rock digging into her back, just below her shoulder. Pain blooms there, a shallow, stinging throb of a shallow wound, but she barely registers it. Her focus is elsewhere.

Panic twists in her chest as her eyes dart to Shael. She doesn’t care about the ache in her body, or even the humiliation of being caught like this. None of that matters. Her one good eye scans frantically, searching for any sign that Shael is unhurt.

"Shael, are you okay?" A mixture of worry, and panic paints her tone as she senses they're not alone.

Eva’s never really had the advantage in anything requiring good sight, what with being down to one eye and all. But there’s something even more unnerving about what she’s seeing. Her vision feels blurry, the figures coming out of the shadows slipping in and out of focus. She tries to concentrate, but the more she forces her gaze, the more everything around her starts to unravel.

And suddenly, it’s all dark.

---

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Skills Used
[1] Cat's Grace 
Your reflexes and basic body movement become extremely agile and nimble, allowing you to move around without the fear of falling or tripping over something.