The Unfated Wanderers Canto 22
Tong turned to the Unfated Wanderers and said, “Before you ask… yes, Fern and I know each other. I lived in Goodbrine before setting out to found Shatterbone. Her father, Hops Quickstream, was a very good friend of mine. We were like family. His wife, Sunny Cloudgrass, is Fern’s mother.”
“Long ago, Sunny abandoned her family and fled to Sprybull. She felt that she was unfit to be a mother and she ran away. I wish that she had shared her feelings with Hops or me. We would have helped her. We had no idea that she was struggling. One day, she was just gone. I have never forgiven her for that. She still refuses to talk to me as well, out of shame, I suppose. This is the real reason that she would not share her artifacts with me.”
“Hops died defending Goodbrine in a raid while Fern was still small. I stepped in as her guardian and raised her to adulthood. Once she was able to take care of herself, I left to travel Icebrunt, seek artifacts and build this village.”
“I did not want to share my relation to Fern because of the crimes that she committed. I did not want to be associated with her. Please keep this to yourselves.”
Later, Tong received a Boxing message from a Scholar visiting Sprybull, “A giant turtle with the legs of an ant walked through Sprybull earlier today. Many of the villagers hid inside the catacomb when they saw it approaching. I am inside with them. The entrance to the catacomb is blocked by immovable objects and we cannot escape. Please send help.”
Tong sent the Unfated Wanderers to Sprybull to aid the trapped villagers. Four days passed before they arrived. The countryside was rife with the spawn of giants, hideous beasts of leathery skin, red eyes and long claws that stood taller than a large man. Some fighting was unavoidable but the Wanderers did their best to sneak through the mobs of malevolent monsters.
The village of Sprybull bore streaks of devastation, long lines where three legs were dragged through it. Houses were pushed into each other and the entire settlement collided with itself. Not a single structure still stood. The Unfated Wanderers found the catacomb entrance. A neighboring wall had fallen onto it and pushed a massive pillar into the entry passage. Billet and Vilerend cleared smaller rocks and rubble, then dug a hole into the passageway past the pillar. The survivors escaped their town’s tomb.
They spoke with the survivors. The Scholar that had sent the message to Tong perished two days ago. He was trying to dig through the blocked entrance. Several bricks broke through a wooden beam and brained him. Some of the ceiling then collapsed, burying him beneath the stones and soil. They gave the few effects the Scholar had to the Wanderers to take to Tong: a small box and a staff.
The Box was one of Unbe’s creations, matching their own. The staff was a lengthy, wooden rod, an intricate pattern of interlocking circles carved into its top half. It wore an iron spike on its tip and the word omit was engraved around its top.
Vilerend and Billet inquired about Sunny Cloudgrass. Did she still live? They wished to speak with her about her family. The Sprybull villagers said that Sunny was missing. She did not join them in the catacomb. They did not know if she escaped before the Giant struck, fled afterwards or perished in the attack.