Heimish looked up at the fire and something caught his eye. There was a spark from the fire, fluttering about as though carried by the breeze. Only, it wasn’t quite right. It was more like it was flying on wings. Then he saw it. Next to the spark, there was a complete absence of light in the shape of butterfly wings.
The spark wafted down towards him, then fluttered off away from the town square. Heimish felt like he had to follow, so he did, hobbling after the void-winged spark.
Kendra watched in disbelief as Santino began climbing the wooden construct. Well, not disbelief. She believed he would do something like that. She just couldn’t deal with it at that moment. “Stein, we should do something about Santino.” There was no response. “Stein!” she called out, poking her head out of the carriage.
They had parked on one side of the road, but Stein was nowhere to be seen. Annoyed and unsure what to do, she walked over to a nearby general goods store to watch the scene from a window.
In the crowd, as she heard the people begin shouting about the presence of a werewolf, Natalya knew she had to do something, or the crowd would tear Santino apart. She didn’t have time to consider what she would personally do regarding the man, only that she had to at least make sure it wouldn’t blow back on Kendra.
She remembered the adventurers she’d seen, and immediately flagged them down. She then displayed her guild crest. “We have to get the crowd out of here quickly, without inciting a panic. Even the guards will have trouble dealing with such a threat, but you know what will happen if a werewolf gets into the crowd!”
One of the men nodded. “Right. You heard her, lads, let’s get these people out of here.” The men began shouting, directing traffic and urging people to leave.
It worked too well, however, and people began fleeing in a panicked mass. Natalya quickly looked back, and saw that the carriage was out of the center of the street, so Kendra was likely in no danger. She turned back to the sight of her companion, up on the burning effigy. Getting him down safely was going to be difficult.
“I don’t want to be this!” the man roared, his voice reverberating through the square as he clawed at his chest, tearing away skin and revealing the raw muscle below. There was a slightly eerie red glow pulsing below the exposed muscle. “Set me free!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Natalya saw motion on a nearby rooftop. She turned and saw a dark cloaked figure looking up at Santino. The figure’s cloak fluttered in the breeze and Natalya saw a shiny obsidian mask with glowing blue eyes underneath. In her mind, Natalya began referring to the figure as Mask.
The figure tensed, and in that moment, Natalya saw Mask’s legs flex in a way that seemed unnatural for a human. It may have just been a trick of the light, but she had seen legs bend like that with some more tieflings who favored their fiendish heritage. It was also common for catfolk’s legs to do the same, though she couldn’t tell if the figure had a tail or fur due to the long cloak.
In an instant, Mask shot through the air with impossible speed, clearing a distance of over sixty feet in the leap – and that was only horizontal distance, as there was a ten foot height distance to cover as well – and kicked Santino dead in the chest. The dog-faced man shot off like an arrow from the impact, sailing over a building and most likely landing in the alley below, then Mask leapt after him.
Kendra, who had witnessed the blow, was sure that the impact would have killed a normal man. But her brother was tougher than most. He had to be okay. She even said it aloud to herself as she ran out of the shop.
The remaining crowd was cheering as she got outside. “The hero, Alvin, has come to save us from the werewolf!” a man shouted. Up ahead, Kendra saw Natalya look in the direction of the shout and run through the now-cheering crowd, heading towards a side street that led in the direction Santino had flown. Not knowing what else to do, Kendra followed.
Santino was barely coherent, but found himself in an alleyway, lying in a puddle. A short distance away was a strange figure, who stood on one leg as it watched him. He leapt to his feet with a snarl and charged, but he slipped on the wet ground and his snapping teeth missed their mark.
Mask swung the raised foot, sending Santino flying into a wall, though this time not as far as he’d been knocked from the Punishing Man. As he struck the wall, Mask saw his shadow in the light of the red glow. The shadow was inhuman, with a pointed tail and great forked antlers. The shadow appeared to be trying to tear itself free of the body.
“Creatures like you shouldn’t even exist!” Mask said with a voice that echoed unnaturally, as if altered by magic – perhaps in the obsidian mask itself.
Santino, blood and spittle dripping from his maw, roared in anger and crimson flames erupted from his body, exploding outward and singeing Mask, who did their best to use their cloak to block the brunt of the flame. The fire also struck the shadow, which rippled, and great black bat-like wings appeared within it, and the flame coalesced in the shadow’s face, appearing as two burning eyes.
The shadow growled incoherently in the language of the blackest pit. Mask understood only a few words, and it seemed to be cursing the body as it continued clawing at the connection between it and its corporeal anchor.
Mask’s foot began to glow with the same pale blue light that shown from its eyes and swept at Santino’s leg, right where the shadow was trying to claw its way free. The blow struck both the body and shadow, and Santino fell to the ground on top of the shadow.
In the distance, a figure entered the alley. “Get away from him!” Natalya shouted, brandishing Faith menacingly.
Mask ignored her and turned back to Santino, whose chest glowed bright red with the light of his exposed heart. The shadow’s wings unfurled beneath him and wrapped around the man, who cried out in pain. The shadow roared in anger. “If I have to be trapped, SO. DO. YOU!”
Inky blackness enveloped Santino, and when it faded, there was an unconscious white mastiff lying there. It looked brutalized and malnourished. Mask regarded the dog curiously, almost pitying it.
Then there was a strange laugh from above, and a second figure, wrapped in shadows, dropped down next to Mask. Due to the nearly shifting nature of the outline around him, Natalya mentally dubbed him Shade. “This would make an excellent specimen!” Shade said, his voice mirthful. “But, alas, time is of the essence. Come!” he said. Mask hesitated, then nodded and both Mask and Shade bounded into the air, jumping well over two stories in a single leap.
Natalya reached the pitiful and unconscious dog. It was breathing, if barely. She then heard footsteps behind her, and turned in time to see Kendra enter the alley. She could also hear the sound of voices somewhere in the distance. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard them saying something about following the werewolf, but she wasn’t sure.
Kendra reached her, and gaped at the sight of the dog. “I’m not sure what happened,” Natalya said. “But I think that Mask turned Santino into a dog.”
“It can’t be,” Kendra said, dropping to her knees and cradling the dog. “But it is him. Daddy said he had died. But here you are. Jiminy, the puppy I lost when I was little girl.” Tears streaked down her face as she spoke.
Several guards entered the alley. “What happened?” one asked Natalya.
She had to get them away from Kendra and Santino. So she spouted the first lie that came to mind that answered everything. “Alvin and the werewolf were fighting in here. Alvin kicked the werewolf into the wall. He knocked into this poor dog, who I think this woman was looking for. Then, the werewolf leapt up onto the roof, and Alvin leapt after him.”
The guard looked up. It was rather far up. But this was Alvin and a werewolf they were talking about. “The roof? Well, I guess it started up there. Understood. You ladies need to get off the street. It’s not safe with a werewolf about.”
“We will,” Natalya said. “But as a tiefling, I don’t have to worry about the werewolf’s curse.”
“True as that may be, his teeth and claws will kill you same as any human. You look competent with that blade. Can you get this woman and her dog to safety?”
“Yes,” Natalya agreed, and the guards left.
As they spoke, Kendra pulled out a vial of dark liquid. It looked like blood to Natalya, but it was, in truth, a magic oil – though blood had been one of the oil’s ingredients. She anointed the dog with it, and it whimpered softly as its wounds began to heal. Natalya thought the girl was chanting a spell, though in truth she was praying that Pharasma not take him.
Once the guards were gone and the dog’s wounds were healed, Kendra regained her focus. “Natalya, please gather my brother’s things.”
The tiefling nodded and grabbed his pack and sword as Kendra picked up the dog. It was surprisingly light, despite its massive size. The tiefling then followed the woman as they made their way out of the alley.
Elsewhere, in fact, not sure where he was, Heimish continued following the butterfly. As he did so, the world began to fade away, and everything became a great black void. The only thing he could see aside from himself and the butterfly was a pale green light in the distance. It appeared to be the butterfly’s destination, and it led him there unerringly.
As he reached it, he realized the light was coming from some kind of idol made of pale green stone. The idol depicted something unearthly, though Heimish was unsure what precisely it was. Identification was made more difficult as the idol undulated, blurring its form even more. Then it opened, revealing a writhing mass of tentacles, great webbed wings and arms reaching out.
Heimish could not make sense of it, so he turned to the butterfly and bowed. “What would you have me do?” he asked. But the butterfly did not answer. Instead, Heimish watched as four shadowy figures appeared, picking up the idol and taking it, disappearing from sight as they moved a few feet away.
The butterfly then landed on Heimish’s shoulder and he felt a cold but comforting sensation where it touched him. Then the blackness faded away, and Heimish found himself on a street, in front of a building, in a part of the city he was definitely unfamiliar with.
Across town, Kendra and Natalya made their way back to the main square. Up ahead, they spotted Stein and a woman they did not recognize conversing with a guard. Most of the crowd was dispersed and the guards had managed to get the fire under control. The woman said something to the guard and he nodded, then walked away.
Kendra, upset, walked up to Stein. “Where did you go?” she asked, her tone accusatory.
“I was taking care of business. This is Embreth Daramid, Justice of Lepidstadt.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kendra said curtly. “But I have business to attend to.” She then began walking towards the carriage, but was stopped as the woman held a hand in front of her.
“Pitiful creature,” she said, examining the dog. “Is this the vessel he chose for his experiment?”
Kendra’s eyes narrowed. “If we are going to discuss my father, we should find a more private place to talk.” Her voice was still filled with anger.
“Wise, child,” the woman said. “And there is much business to discuss. We can speak at my home.”
“We’ll take my carriage,” Kendra said. “If Stein can manage to remain with the carriage this time.”
Stein ignored the barb and ushered Kendra inside, Natalya following close behind. Stein then took his seat as the driver, with Embreth joining him.
“I am aware that you have another delivery to make,” the older woman said to the butler. “But they can wait until morning. We have much to discuss, after all, and so little time.”
“Indeed,” Stein agreed, cracking the whip to get the horses moving.
As they were setting off, the dumbfounded Heimish continued staring at the building, trying to decipher the Black Butterfly’s message, when a voice spoke to him. “You seem to be lost,” the man’s voice declared.
“That is not entirely accurate,” Heimish responded. “It is true that I don’t have any idea where I am, but I am certain that I am precisely where I am meant to be.” He turned to see the man standing next to him. The man was older, balding a bit, but dressed well in the style of scholars. “Can you perhaps tell me where we are?”
The man laughed. “I see! Most interesting! You, friend, are at the University of Lepidstadt.”
“Is that so? I am not sure what I am meant to do here, perhaps it was to meet you. I am Heimish Realta, who might you be?”
“I am Professor Montagnie Crowl, good Heimish. Does that illuminate your purpose here?”
Heimish considered. “Yes! I believe it does. I know your name, from a task I was given, by my dear departed friend Petrus Lorrimor. I am supposed to deliver some books to you, though I must admit that I left them at the carriage, and I must further admit that I do not know where the carriage is right now.”
“Ah, those books! I must say, they are quite tardy. Quite tardy indeed!” he said with a laugh. “But that is okay, considering Petrus’ untimely passing. I will not assess him late fees, in deference to the dead.” He laughed again at his own joke. “Come inside, Heimish Realta. After I attend to my business, we can perhaps decipher the mystery of your missing carriage.”
Crowl opened the door and Heimish noticed the mess within. “I had heard that scholars were often untidy, but I must admit that I was not expecting this,” Heimish admitted.
Crowl laughed. “Tidiness is the duty of students. But this mess is not the work of forgetfulness or neglect. There was quite the to do when an artifact was stolen recently, and with all the investigators about, we have not had time to deal with the fallout.”
“Something was stolen?” Heimish asked, but he spotted a sunken in area where the object likely sat.
“Yes, a strange artifact. Probably worthless, definitely strange, and really just taking up a lot of room. But nonetheless, most fascinating. Here, I think I have some drawings of it,” Crowl said as he rooted through a desk. “Ah yes, there it is.” He handed a book to Heimish. “It was called the Sea-Sage Effigy. Someone was caught, luckily, but we have not recovered it.”
Heimish thumbed through the book, then found the drawing. The image startled him so much he nearly dropped the tome. “That’s it!” he said.
“Friend, you’re white as a sheet,” Crowl said.
“I was granted a vision by the Black Butterfly. In my vision, I saw this object and witness a number of people stealing it. I think I’m supposed to look for it.”
“The Black Butterfly, you say? Most interesting! I’d suggest you interrogate the culprit, but the Beast of Lepidstadt will most likely be unable to answer your questions,” he said, laughing again at a joke Heimish did not quite understand. “Now, I have what I came to retrieve. About the matter of your missing carriage, let us go speak to a friend of mine. Judge Embreth Daramid will know who to talk to in order to find what you seek. I’m sure of it!”
Heimish blinked in surprise. “Embreth Daramid?” he asked.
“Yes. You know her?”
“I know the name,” Heimish answered. “She is the other person I’m supposed to see while here. That cannot be a coincidence.”
As he locked the door to his office, Crowl turned to Heimish. “Do you think the Black Butterfly has a connection to this artifact?”
“I do not know. But I’d be happy to tell you all about her and perhaps you will see a connection I cannot.”
“Splendid!” Crowl said. He then opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Please check that while I grab one more thing?”
Heimish nodded and went to the door. He opened it, but saw no one. “Strange,” Heimish said. “No one’s here.”
Then he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. “Down here,” the voice said.
Heimish looked down and spotted a gnome. “I have a delivery for Montagnie Crowl,” the gnome said, holding out a parcel.
Heimish took it. “Thanks. I’ll give it to him,” he said, then shut the door, almost hitting the hand the gnome was holding out for a tip.
“Well, it’s a good thing I only brought the left ones,” the gnome said, annoyed. “Maybe I’ll get my tip when I bring the rest next time.”
Inside, Heimish gave the package to Crowl, who opened it and pulled out a jar of eyeballs floating in a sickly green liquid. “Splendid!”
“What are they?” Heimish asked.
“Ritual eyes, plucked from the skulls of witches,” Crowl answered as he put them on a shelf. Heimish noticed that the eyes seemed to follow him as he moved. “Come, let us get going. Embreth’s home is a good walk from here, and I suspect it will take you longer than most.”
“True enough,” Heimish said. “Though that will just give us more time to discuss the Black Butterfly.”
“Splendid!” Crowl said, clapping his hands once more.
Across town, Kendra was in the room she was given to freshen up, looking out of a window. The white mastiff was laying on a nest of blankets, whimpering. Stein stood at the doorway. “Embreth is ready for us. We can look for Heimish tomorrow.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Kendra answered curtly.
“As you wish.”
“Stein.”
“Yes?”
“Did you pack my training armor?”
Stein cocked his head to the side, an eyebrow raised in surprise. “I did. But I thought you swore you’d never wear it again.”
“Things have changed,” Kendra said, gently patting the dog’s neck. “Make sure it is ready for me in the morning. And my shield as well.”
“I see…” Stein said. “Shall I procure you a weapon?” Kendra walked over to the bed and picked up the sheathed sword laying there. Santino’s sword. “No. I already have one.”