Chapter 6: A Feast for nobles

Cyrell and Twitch ride patiently on the back of Cosmo away from the town of Ula's bounty. The trek is long and uneventful. A few times, Cosmo tries to flee off the trail in pursuit of some small animal, but Slappy is quick to reign him in to continue on schedule. With Cosmo's injuries, he doesn't put up much of a fight. A few merchants pass by to which Slappy warns to stay away. Rats Ass sits in the back of the shaded tent bopping his head to a melody he hums to himself, and Lazlo plays a game of fantasy solitaire, which is exactly like regular solitaire only in a fantasy world.  The party needs to stop several times along the way to the cultists base in order to give Cosmo a break and rest his injured leg.

After two days of travel, the party arrives close to the town of Capstone where once more Cosmo should take a rest lest he gets a permanent injury. The party agrees and they head into the town.

In the tavern within Capstone, the leaky barrel, a moon elf named Zephyr begins to awake from a deep slumber. Dreams pass by of her previous adventure with the halfling Zeetus and half elf Gavinyo. She falls in and out of consciousness, too groggy and cozy to move before she is awakened by a thunderous crash. She stirs from her sheets and looks around the room but Zeetus and Gavinyo are nowhere to be found. A note near the bed reads,

"Dear  Zeph,

You looked like you needed the sleep. We headed out to do some scouting. BRB! Please don't leave town before we get back. shouldn't be too long ;D"

- Z"

Zephyr heads downstairs to investigate where she finds the gnome bartender that served them the night previous is nowhere to be found. The entire building looks completely refurnished, a stark contrast from the ruined shack she fell asleep in. The barrels used as chairs have been replaced by fine silk lined seats and the floors window and door have been either restored or replaced. A plate of steaming eggs, bacon, and hot tea sit on one of the tables. A human covered by a hood apologizes for the noise and explains there is nothing to worry about but invites Zephyr to eat. She is wary, and begins to ask what happened to the bartender, how did the building get repaired overnight, and if he had seen her friends. He brushes off the questions and once again asks her to enjoy her food. Zephyr heads towards the door.

"Okay, I'm going to go now."

"Oh my dear Zephyr. Surely you'd want to stay longer. After all we have so much to talk about."

"How do you know my name?"

With a snap of his fingers he vanishes and reappears in front of the inns door, now a blue dragonborn blazened with red robes with a gold trim that hang loosely. He is decorated in round baubles that hang around his neck. "There's two ways this is going to go Zephyr. Your dad has been very worried about you, he wants his little girl home safe and sound you see. So you can either come quietly, or the fun way."

"My dad has never worried about where I was?" Zephyr says more as a question than a statement.

"Oh but he does. Surely you could have picked somewhere a bit less cliché to hide? Maybe make it a little bit difficult to find you? A runaway hiding in a small rundown town among a group of nobodies. A bit banal if you ask me."

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. It is your father who is asking for you back, I am simply here to make that happen by orders of my own master. Don't you find it strange how your family never let you leave from the town you were raised in? For all your life never being able to wander. Until now that is."

"I didn't have enough TIME to write more of a backstory than that!"

"Weird, isn't it. As if most of your backstory has been completely wiped from your mind. As though it never even existed. It's a shame really, years that should have been taken from your father but instead borrowed from you. Always amazing what humans will do for just a shred of power.

This has been fun, dear Zephyr, but really it is time to go."

The being twists its neck in an inhuman fashion, starting to twitch its head violently before a large pincer erupts from through the skin in the neck growing taller and wider. Small insectoid legs burst through the regal robes and his skin bursts revealing a chitinous shell underneath that expands. Its legs stretch elongating the creatures body growing it as tall as the ceiling in the inn. A massive

"Now be a dear and come easily."

Having beaten the creature, the barrier collapses in on itself and the illusion of a once wonderous inn is dispersed. The mayor enters, grateful. Cyrell takes some of the beasts scales as a prize. Cyrell asks about the mayors concerns and Lazlo catches him up to speed explaining that a group of nobles is coming to town and they are being hosted here on their way to the capital of the Pleasant Valley known as Skywatch located high in the mountains. He hired a group of wannabe adventurers to go hunt a boar or a bear for the exotic meat but they haven't returned and the nobles are expected later today or tomorrow.

Zephyr gives 9 gold to the mayor to help pay for some of the damages to which he eagerly accepts, pocketing it in his perfectly hemmed silk pants. Cyrell and Twitch clean up some of the mess left behind before turning to the creature.

"SLAPPY!" Cyrell shouts to which Slappy pops his head out of Cosmo's mouth.

"It's not weird." He explains as he gets strange looks from the party. "I'm brushing his teeth it's totally normal!"

Cyrell shakes his head trying to parse out what is going on before simply moving on and asking, "how hardy is Cosmo's gut?" Cyrell holds out a piece of meat from the monster. Cosmo approaches, sniffs, and hisses at it before returning back to a shady spot. 

Twitch puts all of his might into pulling his arrow out of the beasts mouth. 

"So what is this beast, Slappy have you come across any such thing in your travels? It looks Eldritch"

"Arr, I've seen much in my day - but this is no Eldritch Horror, aye, but a demon. Yarr."

"A demon?" Cyrell looks at the monster quizically.

"I know not more."

Cyrell steps to the bar counter and asks for a drink - the mayor, who exemplifies he has never poured his own drink in his life before, runs behind the counter and pulls out the first bottle he sees and offers it to Cyrell. "I'm no bartender but you'll love this!" Cyrell eyes the bottle for a moment before handing it back. At that moment - two ferrets pop out from behind a bar shelf and run to the counter. They each tag team pouring a drink for Cyrell. One holds the glass and pushes it under the tap while the other pulls the lever to pour a hardy pale ale brew. They serve it to Cyrell and make ferret sounds, waiting for coin. Cyrell stares in disbelief further confused by this town before trying to telepathically communicate with the rodents.

They explain how normally a halfling on stilts is here to tend the bar but they aren't sure where he is. They assist by cleaning mugs and pouring drinks together. They ask for a few silver pieces which Cyrell provides. For several minutes the rest of the party only sees Cyrell staring speechless at two ferrets that are making noises back at him as he occasionally takes a sip from his tankard. The ferrets ask for payment a second time, but forgot they were already paid and they apologize for the mistake stating they are still traumatized by the fight. The two ferrets take turns drinking directly from the tap before explaining to Cyrell, "the alcohol helps" before he cuts off their communication.

Zephyr is short on details and is hesitant to share too much to the strangers she finds herself around, but states she joined a caravan as a guard from Port Salazar. 

"Who was that creature looking for?" Cyrell asks.

"Not sure, someone named.....Elanor?" Zephyr replies.

The party agrees to help out the mayor by hunting these animals for the feast on the condition that they can attend. He eagerly agrees desperate for any help and pleased that he does not need to pay anything.