Tales from Tabletop

Session 8.3: Return to the Hollow

Chapter III: Quiet Streets

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Shrouded in mists, the streets of Lendrigol were quiet. No beasts stalked the streets, no Umbralivants loomed overhead. It was as if the whole area was silent, hushed in anticipation.

Selene was the first to break the silence.

"So," she began, "Spooky nothing's here."

"Yeah," Ari said warily, "Normally, nothing would be a good thing, but Selene is right."

They looked around a bit, but could not see or find anything. Nothing but mists and ruins.

"Perhaps they are simply elsewhere?" Hamish suggested.

"No," Argent disagreed, "I think they're waiting. Lendrig's power gives him command over all the beasts of the Abyss. I imagine he likely allowed them to run rampant until now, as there was no need to hold their leash tightly. But now...now he's preparing for war."

"Wait," Selene squeaked, overjoyed as a thought occurred to her, "He's only attacking the Hollow because he knows he doesn't need to let it stick around right? That's only because Argent is here. He needs his blood for a ritual or something, right? If that's the case, we just need to get Argent as far away from here as possible, then he'll have to call off the attack, right?"

While Selene was already patting herself on the back for her own brilliance, the rest of the party seemed doubtful.

Hamish started, "What you say is correct, my friend...but..."

"But consider this..." Jezran added.

"If Argent is so important..." Ari continued.

"Why am I here?" Argent finished.

Selene's head swivelled as they each said their piece. Did they practice that when I wasn't looking?

"Huh?" was all Selene could muster to say.

"It's simple," Argent explained, "Lendrig knows where we are, he knows what we're doing. If he thought we could escape this place, he would not have allowed our escape in the first place."

"Wait, so you..." Selene said, trying to get what they were saying, "You think Lendrig let us go?"

"It's a possibility," Jezran sighed, "He's been leading us in circles this whole time, we can't assume we can outwit him. Or at least, if we do, it would require something he could not predict."

Selene sighed, defeated, "Okay..."

"It was not bad plan," Hamish said, delicately placing his giant hand on her shoulder, "In other case, might even be best plan, but Lendrig control this city. He would know if we try to leave."

"He might even have a trap waiting for us by the time we got there," Jezran added solemnly.

"But don't fret," Ari said, placing her hand on Selene's free shoulder, "That is exactly the kind of thinking we need right now. If you have any other ideas, please let us know."

Hamish nodded enthusiastically.

Selene chuckled, then nodded herself.

"With that out of the way," Argent said, "We should keep moving until we find some shelter for the night. We have no idea if this silence will last all night, so we should take advantage for as long as possible."

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Before travelling anywhere, they needed to get their bearings. In order to get their bearings, Ari volunteered to transform again.