Current Timeline of Elderhearth - Part 4

This is part four of a short recap of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign through which Elderhearth came to be.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

In the following day, the Royal Den was rife with traffic. More and more people had started frequenting the tavern. 

When the boys were all down in the tavern, a strange man came to pay them a visit.

He called himself a wandering monk and had told Jack, Uther, Eph and Ash about a prophecy that might involve them.

"The Four shall come again. 

To conquer and to rule. 

They will change the World, as they have done in the past. 

The Kings of the World shall be unleashed, and they shall ride - with death at their backs and glory on their shoulders."

He then was gone, as mysteriously as he had appeared.

This left the guys wondering.

Jack was looking for a certain item, a staff called The Blackstaff - which was said to be one of the most powerful magical items in existence. And so far, his clues had led him to conclude that it might be somewhere in the vicinity of Elderhearth. 

Uther and Ash decided to pay a visit to a farming village near Elderhearth, which was the last known location of Ash's father. Ash did not know about his father's involvement with the nobles, so he was still looking for clues after all this time.

Down there, they managed to discover the Richmond family's hands in the affair, and they returned back to the Royal Den. But before that, they had heard the villagers talking about an old man, living in a small hut near a forest not far away from the village, who was present at the time of the incident.

The next day, Ash decided to go and find that man himself, while the rest of the brothers remained in Elderhearth. They were confronted by Vigaarde in their tavern, where Vigaarde had told them that he knows about their involvement with the deaths of certain nobles. And before they were about to react to such a revelation - Vigaarde offered them a place in his service. Since they are, by all accounts, people who don't want to harm innocent people and the men they killed were criminals - they would do jobs for Vigaarde as well. Spying, infiltration and the like.

This proved an opportunity for them, so they accepted. And became Vigaarde's operatives.

For their first job, they were to break Linus, and force him to confess all of his criminal activities.

Jack saw this as an opportunity so he went to do the job.

In Linus' cell, Jack had invaded his mind and broke his psyche - leaving Linus a bawling, crying mess who was blurting out confessions left and right. Vigaarde was satisfied with this because now, Linus could hang. And a key player in Elderhearth's crime syndicate could be removed.

Back outside of Elderhearth, Ash was riding out toward the location of the old man as told him by the villagers. Since Elderhearth was a gigantic place, the journey to reach to forest took Ash until nightfall. 

The night was dark and cold. Ash had spotted the small hut near the forest, so that's where he went. Inside he found no one. But it looked lived-in. Books, papers and various items were strewn about, with a burning fireplace and food cooking in the pot. Ash went over some of them and realized that they were all written in a language unknown to him. He went outside and was greeted with a sight of a giant white werewolf looking him directly in the eyes.

Until that point, werewolves were just a myth. A fairy tale that was told to children in order to scare them into obedience. But Ash was looking at one. 

The Werewolf spoke: "I know who you are."

"I'm just a traveler, I lost my way and I found this house - thought I could find a place to spend the night." Ash spoke in a panicked voice. 

"No, you're not, Ashley. You're looking for me." the werewolf said.

"Y-you? Why would I be looking for you?" Ash was looking for a possible way to escape, but his thoughts were interrupted by the loud sound of bones cracking. The werewolf in front of him began to twist and turn, his body growing smaller and his fur falling off of him.

Now, there was an old man standing in front of Ash, in place of the Werewolf. His wiry, muscular body indicated that he wasn't just an ordinary man, but his grandfatherly face with a long white beard and long white hair had given the man an air of trustworthiness. 

"I am Fangier. And I have been waiting for you, Ashley. Not just you, but for the rest of your brothers. Now, do come in. We have a lot to discuss." and he went inside the hut.

Ash was left standing in front of the hut, wondering what had just happened.

Then he went in.