Marble Realms: Lost Gods

Chapter 5 The Alliance

The damage wasn’t too bad: two broken tables, four broken chairs, a lantern was smashed, and food was scattered over the floor. There had been worse fights here, so this was relatively clean. Ekron noticed that Damon and Ardryll were talking to the two other men who walked in. The smaller elf seemed to be quite shaken. The tiefling made his way over to them, “Sorry about that, typically the welcoming party isn’t so hostile. I'm not sure what crawled up Howel’s ass and died today,” Ekron said, extending his hand. “Name’s Ekron.”

The large tiefling, Ekron assumed, nodded and shook his hand. “Nathuss and this is Alosrin,” the man said, pointing to the elf at his side. The other gave him a polite wave. “It’s been a while since I was in a tavern fight,” Nathuss said with a slight laugh, “forgot how dumb some men are.” Ekron chuckled, “Normally they don’t actually pull weapons like that, mostly idiots with dumb words.”

“What brings you to town?” Ekron asked.

“Hoping for a nice place to sleep and to restock,” Alosrin responded with a slight shrug, “was not expecting to try to be killed for that.”

“Yeah, sorry there’s a group here that isn’t too keen on non-humans,” Ekron said with a sigh.

Nathuss sighed, “Humans never seem to change.” Ekron, Damon, and Ardryll nodded, understanding the other.

“There are a few humans that are absolutely sweet,” Ekron stated, with a slight shrug, “typically women or children.”

Nathuss shrugged, his personal experience showed it didn’t matter if they were children or women they could hate just the same.

Ekron looked around again before he bent over and began to pick up some pieces of broken furniture.

“We should probably clean this up. Especially if y’all want a place to sleep tonight,” Ekron stated, while putting the pieces of wood in the backroom.

The rest of the guys also looked around at the damages. Damon visibly flinched, realising how much destruction actually happened.

Forsensa came out from behind the bar with a broom, a mop, and a bucket.

“You boys can use these to clean up the mess, I expect it to be cleaner than when you came in,” the dwarven woman said, handing each man something. Damon began sweeping up the food and glass. Ardryll began mopping up any spilled drinks and blood. Alosrin began to wipe down tables and walls that were splattered with food, ale, and any other debris. Nathuss helped Ekron with picking up broken tables and chairs.

It didn’t take the five of them long to clean the whole front of the tavern. It was nearly spotless when they finished. Forsensa came out from the back, shocked by how clean the tavern was. “This is the cleanest it has been since we opened 40 years ago,” she said.

“It’s the least we could do since we trashed it,” Nathuss said.

“I still feel bad,” Damon said, looking at his partner.

“We will pay for some of the damages. I know it would cost you a lot to replace all that was destroyed,” Ardryll signed, looking apologetic to the woman.

“No it's fine. You boys taught Howel and his goons a lesson. They have been harassing patrons for a while now. Surprised it hasn’t happened sooner,” Forsensa said, waving her hand dismissively. “Now would you boys want some dinner and ale. Y’all must’ve worked up a sweat,” she said, as she began walking to the back to get the food.

The men looked at each other before Nathuss responded, “That would be wonderful, thank you.”

Not long later, the five were seated and enjoying their meals and chatting.

“So Nathuss, what did you say you two were in town for?” Damon said before putting a forkful of food in his mouth.

“Stopping through for supplies,” Nathuss replied.

“Where ya heading after?” Ekron chimed, looking at the larger man.

Alosrin looked at Nathuss, wondering if he’d be truthful or lie where they were heading. Nathuss noticed the look of uncertainty on Alosrin’s face. He already decided that if anyone asked he’d tell the truth, not like anyone knows why.

“Black Rock Dreki,” he said flatly.

The others stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

“The Island of the Dragons?” Ekron questioned, looking at the other in shock.

Nathuss nodded, taking a bite of his food.

“Why there?” Ardryll signed, looking at the dragon in disbelief.

Nathuss hesitated for a second, unsure how to respond. He couldn’t exactly say he’s a dragon, and he's going back to try and save his mate.

Before he could respond, Ekron chimed in, “Rumor says the dragons used to hoard gold, and after the war, the island was inaccessible, and the gold was lost. Are you going to see if the rumors are true?”

Nathuss flinched at the mention of the war.

“Yes, we were hoping the rumors were true. It would make us not only the first back on the island but the wealthiest people ever,” Alosrin lied, glancing at the god.

Ekron laughed, “good luck you’d need either the continent's best sailor to avoid the rocks or a dragon to fly across those waters.”

Alosrin opened his mouth to respond only to shut it, realising they needed to try and keep the god’s identity a secret.

Ekron leaned in and looked at the two, “I happen to know a guy who could get you to the island.”

“Who? Could you give us their contact?” Alosrin asked, quickly knowing they'd need him.

Nathuss casted the elf a look.

“Now that information would cost you a pretty coin,” Ekron said, holding a gold coin between his fingers. “Or you let me join ya, and we split the gold three ways.”

Alosrin looked at the tiefling confused. “Join us?”

“Yeah, you see, I am an expert thief, and I have been all over the continent, but I have yet to get to the Island of the Dragons,” Ekron stated.

Damon looked at Ardryll, Ardryll signed something to him rather quickly. The two have traveled most of the continent but haven't been to the island before. Knowing it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, they couldn’t pass the potential of joining the two on the journey. “Before you decided Ardryll and I have been down in the area. If you need a guide to get to the island, we can help,” Damon suggested, looking at the two.

Nathuss and Alosrin shared a look. It was ultimately Nathuss’s decision to have the other three join. Nathuss thought he knew he’d need help because taking his dragon form could be dangerous. They would also need any and all the help they could get to get to the island.

After a minute of thinking, he finally answered, “We will need as much help as we can get. We could split the horde five ways and still be rich beyond our dreams”

Ekron held out his hand, “Do we have a deal?”

Nathuss grabbed the man’s hand and shook it. “You have a deal, Ekron.” He then turned to Damon and Ardryll holding his hand out for them. “Deal?”

Damon looked at Ardryll, who nodded. He grabbed the dragon’s hand and shook. “We got a deal.”

“Awesome! Finally, an actual adventure!” Ekron said with a laugh, “It’s been far too long since I had a proper one.”

“It will be great to finally see the land where the gods lived,” Damon said with a sigh. “It’s probably a beautiful place.”

The group talked about their upcoming adventure for a while, agreeing to meet at the market the next morning to get supplies. They hoped to leave for Black Rock Dreki the morning after their market run. Hoping the day to prepare and rest would leave them refreshed and ready to tackle the trip south.

As patrons began to trickle out of the tavern and home for the night, the five decided to retire for the night.