TTR 4: "I will remain until it all turns to ash"

 Calvin: Brooke. Justin: Jubilo.

Grandaunt Ngeng will not wed!

Middle Month of Summer. Day 3, beginning of afternoon watch. HEX F.

Fortress Portcullis

Drim has decided he's going to stay with Learned instead of immediately traveling to Once Rie. First he has something to learn... Half an hour after the Witch Folk hunters travel north Jubilo and Callan arrive at Learned's nest on a shoddily-crafted raft. The two traveled throughout the night, staying away from the thundering scuttling of Granduncle Beg. Jubilo took after Callan and became exceptional at hearing. He also found out Callan is a bigoted Zum loyalist! 

Brooke fills Jubilo and Callan in on the plan to overtake the fortress and hold Lord Zaq hostage. Jubilo comes clean that he is not Alaric the Theif and explains his real past as an entertainer. He adds that he's visited the fortress before and knows Lord Zaq: he performed for him many years ago.

The team establishes a new plan to enter the fortress under the guise of performing for Lord Zaq and his retinue in order to boost morale. They must convince him to write a signed and sealed letter to Lady Ummul Gul for backup after seeing the sorry state of the previously grand Once Rie. They'll deliver this letter themselves while Lord Zaq remains "safe" in his fortress. 

Callan has a problem with the plan: he HATES the Witch Folk, and is a stubborn ass about this! Jubilo and Callan negotiate the mental imagined contract they've written up until its decided that Callan should be more tolerant, and that if Callan spends more than seven cumulative days in a war zone he gets time-and-a-half pay for that week. Learned forms this compromised agreement. Brooke, Jubilo, and Callan depart at once for the fortress.

Day 3, afternoon watch...

Mist in the forest. Nearing the end of their journey Jubilo hears a caw! An hour passes, and more caws. Before entering the dominion of Lord Zaq they see a flock of crows, patiently watching.

Day 3, beginning of night watch. HEX J.

Lord Manishi Zaq

A large lake, mangrove trees surrounding. It is the edge of the Great Wood. In the center is a stump, 150 feet tall. The water level has dipped to mud. Roots sprawl like corridors. Rocky spikes jut out of the soil like columns. Atop the stump is a faint warm light as the sun finishes setting behind it. The crows fly toward the base of the stump where a single war galley rests. It flies the flag of Good Captain Fintan; a black blindfolded crow on a purple field. "WHO GOES THERE!" shouts the Good Captain. "JUBILO!" There's a pause. "WHAT?" shouts the Good Captain. The crew approach the war galley. The Good Captain remembers them. "You are my rivals!" He says he can watch their skiff for them while it is unattended. Three very long rope ladders lead to the top of the stump. Jubilo catches that the Good Captain's crew seems to have lost members, twelve now down to eight. "Have a run-in with the Eater?" asks Jubilo. The Good Captain explains they ran into giant mudskippers. Jubilo tells the story of the Eater. 

Callan offers to watch the skiff while they visit the fortress. "This guy's an asshole. I think he's half Witch Folk," sneers Callan. "See you when you come back down!" shouts the Good Captain, as Brooke and Jubilo climb and climb and climb...

Two soldiers guard the broken portcullis of the fortress at the top of the stump. Jubilo introduces himself and says that Lord Zaq has met him before. Brooke introduces himself as a previous bodyguard to Lady Gul. One of the soldiers fetches Captain Zaq, Lord Manishi Zaq's only son. He's armored in full plate and can hardly move. Captain Zaq cannot pass the portcullis due to his armor, so he stands erect behind it. He mentions he's named after a great hero, and a soldier lets it slipped he's named after the Hero-King Belal. "Ballsack?" says Jubilo. "Belal Zaq. It's a very powerful name," says Captain Zaq. Captain Zaq goes to speak with his father while Jubilo and Brooke gossip with a soldier, filling him in on the current state of events.

Captain Belal Zaq

Brooke and Jubilo duck under the portcullis as Captain Zaq leads them to the donjon of Once Rie. Inside; a dusty unused dining hall. Inside Lord Zaq's office; a desk and twelve soldiers crammed into the room surrounding the very drunk and rambling Lord Manishi Zaq. After little progress, Lord Zaq agrees to hear what Jubilo and Brooke have to say over a meal and more wine and a puppet show. The chef prepares a terrible meal of old fish, hard bread steamed over military ale, with a side of rations. Jubilo performs an exaggerated recounting of Drim's history and recent encounter with Krun. It's a wonderful show. But Lord Zaq is unimpressed and feels as though he's being taken advantage of. "What do you all want!" Jubilo lies about wanting to see a pretty maid that used to work here before all of the staff formed a union and stole away on Zaq's only war galley. "But now we want to help you!" They want to deliver a letter that requests reinforcements sent to Once Rie.

Lord Zaq is unenthused, but Captain Zaq advises that his father do as they say. "We need the respect and power we had before!" As long as Captain Zaq accompanies them as they deliver the letter. Brooke says Captain Zaq would have to abandon his plate armor. "You can't even fit through the portcullis gap." Captain Zaq tells the duo to visit a soldier who has locked himself away in his room. "He's crafty." He can probably fix the portcullis.

Brooke and Jubilo find the room, but it's locked with a handmade bolt. They wake up a trio of sleeping soldiers who fear Brooke and Jubilo are Krun. "How do you know who Krun is?" asks Jubilo. "Finch told us. He knows everything." With the sleepy soldier's help they break into Finch's room to find it abandoned. There's a carved hole in the wall... 

A vision in the stars

Outside the fortress, on the other side of the carved tunnel, is the edge of the stump. The darkness of the forest beyond. The stars in the sky. Finch sits in a wicker chair looking at the night sky through a handmade telescope. At his side is a thick red book. "I was expecting you, Jubilo and Brooke." They ask how he knows so much. "You look so long at the stars and they start looking back through you," he says. He knows they are allied with the Witch Folk and this whole scheme is a ruse to draw attention away from Once Soot. Brooke and Jubilo want Finch to travel with them. "No, but I will see you again. For now, I will remain until it all turns to ash." Brooke and Jubilo realize they want the portcullis to stay closed so Captain Zaq cannot travel with them. Jubilo asks about Finch's book. "Take it, if you would like." Jubilo grabs The Fire Foretold. "Sorry about breaking your lock," says Jubilo. "It's okay. I made it so you two would break it one day." Brooke and Jubilo bed down in Finch's room.

Day 3, middle of the night watch. HEX J.