Back In The Game

"Okay, Farrah." Jason went on. "You can see tracking them is not going to be a problem, but if you want, you can roll a survival check for more details. If you roll well, you'll be able to tell..." He was cut off as his phone sprang to life. Again. He cast an irritated glance even as he reached for it.

"You're a popular fella tonight." Sasha smirked.

"Yeah, not really." he grumbled. He looked briefly at the screen, intending to dismiss the call as he had the others. "Oh." Jason sighed "But this one is Grandma, so I'd better take it. Just a moment, guys."

He connected the call and brought the device to his ear. "Hey, Grandma. Everything all right?"

His volume was low enough that the reply was audible, though not intelligible to the others. "Ah, yes. I am aware. But I am currently in the middle of something. How did you--?"

He paused for the answer, his brow knitting. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd get dragged into this. I'll take care of it immediately."

He frowned as he listened. "Of course I don't, but I guess it can't wait."

As he listened to her reply, he rolled his eyes and smirked. "Oh, yes." he deadpanned. "You know me. The very soul of patience. Sorry for the trouble. See you when I get home."

He listened for a moment. "All right, bye." Then he disconnected the call.

"You got loansharks after you?" grinned Caitlyn.

"Would that it were so pleasant." sighed Jason. "We'll have to pause for a moment while I deal with this. Sorry guys." He stood and looked around. "Sosh, can I use your living room. I'll try not to get blood everywhere."

"Yeah, man. Go ahead." Sasha replied. "And don't worry about it. Caity owes me a carpet scrub."

"I don't yet!" countered Caitlyn, fighting a giggle.

"What is it, Jase?" inquired Kya with a touch of concern.

"Nothing important." replied Jason, getting to his feet. "Just irritating. Hopefully, this won't take long." He rounded the table, tapping his phone as he went.

Once his eyes were turned away, the other three players focused on Kya, who shrugged. "I don't know." She mouthed, before turning to Farrah. "Roll that survival while we're waiting."

Farrah complied, bouncing her dice in front of her, and was calculating the result when the GM was heard in the other room.

"Well? What's so important that it couldn't wait?" Jason's usual genial tone was absent from his voice.

"Ugh." whispered Caitlyn with wide eyes. "He is not happy."

"Maybe you should flash him when he gets back." grinned Sasha. "That'd cheer him up."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes but couldn't hide a smirk.

"Quiet." hissed Kya. "I'm trying to be nosey."

"No." Jason replied to his phone. "I am in the middle of something, which someone else might have guessed from context clues." He paused. "True, I suppose, which is another whole issue. Now what do you want?"

"Doesn't sound like business." pondered Sasha aloud, though she kept her voice low. "Pretty late for that anyway."

"Mn." Jason grunted from the other room. It sounded as though her was trying (and failing) to keep his tone neutral. "And what is the occasion?"

Kya had an ear cocked in Jason's direction. "No, definitely sounds personal." She agreed.

"Mn." said Jason again. "I see. And where are you--" He paused. "No, she didn't mention that."

Kya's eyes met Caitlyn's. "I could practically hear his eye twitch." She whispered with a frown.

"Um," Farrah kept her voice low as well, though she was quiet at the best of times, "I have rolled a seventeen for survival."

"That's a good roll." replied Caitlyn. "But we'll have to wait for the boss to get back."

"Look, I have people waiting for me, so if we could wrap this up..." Jason said before another pause. "Fine. Hurry it up."

"Yeah, I don't know." mumbled Kya. "I can't think of anyone Jase would talk to like that."

"No." said Jason from the other room. "I work at the same place."

"Maybe it's the cops." whispered Sasha. "Sounds like he's being interrogated."

"No." said Jason curtly.

"Nah, he'd be more polite to the cops." whispered Caitlyn. "Remember that time he and Maise got caught in the cemetery?"

"No." Jason's single word was so cold, they could almost hear the ice forming on it. "Because she died."

"Oh shit." breathed Kya.

"Well, not that this hasn't been delightful," continued Jason, his voice not warming in the slightest, "but I am in the middle of something. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye."

Kya was on her feet as soon as the call clicked off. Caitlyn and Sasha followed. Farrah trailed behind because, well, everyone else was going. They entered the living room to find him looking out the window.

"You good, Jase?" Sasha asked immediately.

"Yeah." Jason turned to look at them before letting out a breath and running a hand over his face. "Well, maybe in a minute."

"Who was that?" pressed Kya, moving up and wrapping her arms around him.

"Ugh." groaned Jason, returning the hug. "That was my..." He let out a breath. "Mother."

The apartment was quiet for a moment. "You have a mother?!" Caitlyn blurted out.

* * *

"This is as far as I take you." announced the old farmer. "But you can see the gate from here."

"This is great, Sir." replied Kya, climbing to her feet. She fished a gold coin from her pouch and tossed it to the man driving the wagon. "Thank you for your help."

The man caught the coin. "And thank you, Lass." He cast an eye into the back of the cart with a half grin. "But it was my honest pleasure."

"Yeah, that's why we didn't throw a blanket on her." grinned Maisey. She swung a bulging sack over the side of the wagon, which landed with a clatter, before vaulting over the side herself. "And it's not like she minds. Let us get her unloaded and you can get on your way."

"Aye, take your time." The wagon driver continued to grin.

"Right." smirked Kya. "So how do we do this, Maise?"

"I'm gonna tie the bag to my belt. It'll drag all right to the gate." replied Maisey. "You hop down. I'll start dragging her out. You catch her feet. She's heavy, but if we get her to the gate, one of us can go in and get a wheelbarrow or something for the trip to the temple."

Kya turned and eyeballed the distance to the gate. "Agreed." she sighed. She unlatched the tailgate before dropping to the ground. "Take her out slow and make sure I got her before you go all the way. Don't want to drop her."

"Don't want to damage her." countered Maisey. "There have been a couple of times this trip I've wanted to drop her." She circled to the back of the wagon, sack jangling behind her as she moved. Once in position, she lowered the back to reveal the wagon's cargo.

A statue of a dwarven woman lay in the bed of the transport. A mostly naked dwarven woman She was still wearing gauntlets and armored boots as the frozen position of her extremities made such things difficult to remove. The rest of her armor and clothing had been delicately stripped to cut down on her weight. Fortunately, she'd been surprised by the gorgon hand hadn't yet drawn her hammer and shield. They'd have never pried them from her stone fingers without breaking something. She was heavy enough.

Kya took up position at the open wagon. "All right." she sighed. "Nice and slow. Wait 'til I get a good grip."

"Yeah, yeah." grumbled Maisey. She reached forward and began dragging her petrified friend outward using one of her breasts as a handhold. "I know what I'm going to ask once we get her thawed out. Her nipples had to have been rock hard to get frozen like this. But in a dungeon? Why?"

"I was wonderin' that myself." grinned the Farmer, who'd studied the situation closely. "Maybe she was cold?"

"Maybe." agreed Kya. "But she had her chest wrapped pretty good." She hooked her arms on the dwarf's feet. "Okay, I got her. Pull her out." She grunted as Maisey complied and the statue's weight came off the wagon.

"Ha!" laughed the Farmer. "Her underwear couldn't have been too heavy. Why'd you take that off 'er?"

"Got you to stop, didn't it?" grinned Maisey. "Thanks for your help, sir. We got her from here."

The gate didn't look far, but they were hefting a life-sized statue. Maisey took the heavier end, her strength handling the solid torso. Fortunately, Caitlyn had a second or so to be surprised before she was frozen and was in the process of dropping into a defensive stance. Kya positioned herself between the cleric's ankles, hooking her arms on her calves. They also attracted a fair bit of attention as they struggled on the path, or rather their cargo did.

"That's some fine craftsmanship." commented one man as they slogged past.

"I'll tell her you said so." replied Maisey dryly.

It felt longer than it should have been before they made it to the gate. "All right. Let me set my end down, and we'll spin her to lean against the wall." huffed Kya. She groaned as the weight came off her arms. "Ugh. That was a chore. I'll head in and grab a cart or something; you stay out here and watch her. You're way scarier than I am."

"But in a hot way, right?" said Maisey, wiggling her eyebrows.

"And what's all this then?" a voice interrupted. A guard had wandered over from the main gate to intercept them.

It was Maisey who replied. "Hey officer, our friend had a mishap involving a gorgon. We're taking her to the temple of the Skyfather to see if they can fix her."

"Why was she fightin' a bloody gorgon naked?" questioned the guard.

Well, she was wearing full plate." answered Kya. "But she's heavy enough, so we stripped her to get her back. Fortunately, only she turned to stone. I'm gonna head in and borrow a wheelbarrow or something. Can I leave these two here until I get back?"

The young male guard cast an eye back to the stone dwarf. "Oh, yeah. Take your time." he said with a smirk.

"Right." grinned Kya, turning to go.

"Hold up, K." Maisey halted her. "You still got some chalk?"

"Remember who you're talking to." replied Kya. "Of course. What do you want it for?"

"Thought I'd give Caity a few tattoos while I wait." the armored woman grinned.

Kya rolled her eyes but fished a piece of chalk from her belt pouch. "She's gonna be so pissed when she wakes up." Kya whispered, stepping back to hand off the chalk.

"As long as she wakes up." replied Maisey. "You heard the man. Take your time." She watched Kya go for a moment before turning back to the immobilized dwarf. "All right. Cait. Let's pretty you up a bit."

Maisey spent a few minutes doodling a stylized heart a few inches below Caitlyns belly button. When she finally looked up from her work, she saw that not only was the guard still there watching, but a few other men and women had drifted over as well.

"Nice art." one commented.

"Shoulda gone lower." laughed another.

"Hey." put in the guard. "You, uh, mind if I take a turn?"

Maisey blinked, looking down at the chalk in her hand. "Hm, worth a silver you think?"

*

Kya exited the gate pushing a large wheelbarrow. As she turned to rejoin her companions, she discovered a fair knot of people where she left them. She sighed, knowing at least Caitlyn was right where she'd left her, and began elbowing her way into the group. At the center, she found Maisey lounging next to a still petrified Caitlyn. And while Maisey looked much the same, Caitlyn was decked to the nines.

She still wore only her currently irremovable gauntlets and boots but she was covered in artistically applied chalk. Some was just base graffiti, like the crudely drawn mustache or the outlines of hands spread variously across her torso. Others were more carefully rendered, like the ivy vines twisting down her arm or the nearly three-dimensional collar around her neck. At the moment, a halfling girl was carefully layering a symbol of the skyfather on the statue's inner thigh.

"Gods damn it, Maise." groaned Kya, though she was unable to fully suppress a grin. "She's gonna be so pissed."

"Yeah but think of the story when she wakes up like this." replied Maisey. "And I made a little coin to help pay for getting her fixed up." Maisey stood, brushing herself off. "Okay, guys!" she announced to the crowd. "Time to go get her revived! She's gonna love finding all her new art before she takes a bath!"

The crowd groaned but started to disperse, though a few offered to help get the immobile cleric into the wheelbarrow. The halfling finished her work before handing the used-up stub of chalk back to Maisey.

"Heh heh, I think I'm gonna owe you some chalk." laughed Maisey, before jingling her coin pouch. "No worries. Thanks to Caity, I'm good for it."

* * *

"Well, I mean, of course he has a mother." grumbled Caitlyn, making her way back to her seat. "I just meant that I've known him for years and this is the first I heard of her."

"He could have been dropped off by a stork like in the cartoons." replied Sasha.

"Oh, shut up." Caitlyn growled, though she was grinning.

"She's right, though." agreed Kya, looking to Jason. "I've never heard you mention your mom." Then she added with a chuckle. "I know the, uh, story about your dad

"Semantics." replied Jason. "I don't have a 'mom' or dad. I have a grandma and I have a mother and a father. He was hardly ever around and if she were ever 'Mom', I don't remember. Now where were we? Right. Survival check. Farrah?"

"Oh no." interrupted Kya. "You're not getting off that easy. What was that all about? And... she didn't know about Maise?"

"Why would she?" replied Jason, resignedly. "Last she bothered to notice, I was dating a girl whose name started with 'M'. She asked if I was still with Megan or Molly or whatever her name was. No tact, has my mother. Anyway, she's coming for a visit and wants me to pause my life to accommodate her. She suddenly grew interest in me or something."

"Okay. Okay." put in Sasha. "Sorry man, but I have to ask, because of the way she said it. What is 'the story' with you da-- uh, father?"

Jason gave Kya some side eye with a half grin. "Et tu, Sosh? All right. So a while back; I was twelve or thirteen, my father decided I should go live with him......"

"Um, never heard that one." interrupted Kya. "I was talking about the one at your grandpa's funeral, I guess."

Jason blinked. "The funeral?" He thought for a second. "Oh, yeah. He thought he was going to take me again. Unburden Grandma or something. Assumed I'd been hiding behind Grandpa. They're his parents. Where'd you hear about it?"

"Seriously?" Caitlyn raised her eyebrows. "You took Maise with you and that was one of her favorite stories. She loved that. Thought you were the king of cool. I must have heard about it a dozen times."

"What? Really?" Jason blinked again.

"Oh, yeah." grinned Kya. "Caity got off light with only a dozen. I bet Mrs. D could quote it to you."

"I... didn't know that." stammered Jason.

"So what happened?" pressed Sasha.

"Oh, let me!" offered Caitlyn. "Sounds like I might know it better than him. So after the service, 'Dad' comes over and starts a speech about how it's time to grow up, be a man. Maise did say something about not being a burden on your Grandma. She said you just listened. Finally, you said and, I am quoting her directly, 'all low and dangerous', "Who do you think I am, Randy? You? I am not going to abandon her now. Get out of my face." Made him flinch and everything. She liked you before, but that hooked her."

"And here I thought it was my roguish charm." stammered Jason, rubbing the back of his head.

"Where would you get that idea?" grinned Kya. "No, she loved that her 'sweet' boyfriend could be, another direct quote, "fucking scary if it was called for"."

"She did have her priorities." agreed Jason.

"All right. Now that we've climbed his family tree," put in Sasha, "Farrah, I believe you rolled a seventeen survival?"

"Yes." confirmed Farrah.

Jason let out a breath, throwing a grateful glance at Sasha. "Yes. Survival. Tracking the wagons. Good roll. You can easily tell their direction. Plus, you can tell they had two wagons, six horses, and five humanoids on foot. Only one is barefoot, has small feet, and a stumbling gait. Probably your missing girl."

The game picked back up, with the players weighing pursuit options. Kya, however, was not quite done."Saved by the barbarian." she whispered, catching Jason's eye. "Talk later?"

Jason continued to focus on the game, but gave her a single, barely perceptible nod.

* * *

"At least the tunnel isn't clean." said Sasha, poking the eviscerated corpse with her foot. "But this feels worse. What is that thing?"

"I'm guessing a troglodyte." said Kya. "Hard to tell because it's in so many pieces, but it stinks in here. And trogs are known to stink. Eyes open, Farrah. I think they travel in packs."

"Yes." agreed Farrah.

They'd come across several such remains in this dungeon, torn and mutilated, though there was a tight group of several that were covered in weird burn-like damage. The best Kya and Farrah could come up with was frostbite, which made no sense. They all appeared to be several days old at least, but that was relatively fresh for a secluded dungeon.

"And what are we here for again?" pressed Sasha. "More sex toys? Not that I'd mind so long as she pays us..."

"Yeah, Lady Dark didn't really say." replied Caitlyn. "Just rumors. Might be nothing, but worth a look. But we are the first people she sent here, so the bits and pieces are unexpected."

"Well, these passages are pretty tight." observed Kya. "Whatever it is, it can't be much bigger than we are. On the other hand, it tore these trogs apart and there's not much room to maneuver. Might be tricky if whatever it is decides we're lunch."

"There are a few tracks in the, uh, gore." added Farrah. "The best that I can say is medium-sized humanoid. 
Probably solitary. The damage looks more monstrous. Perhaps a werewolf?"

"Most can't change at will." said Kya. "Or if they can, not more than a couple times a day. But maybe. Either way, nobody wander off."

They continued into the dungeon, moving slowly and carefully. Even Sasha was a little on edge, though her voice betrayed excitement. They found a few more corpses and scraped together enough gold pieces and usable loot to maybe cover the trek back. But hadn't yet run across anything living or even animate. Until...

"Stop!" Farrah hissed. "I hear something. Up ahead. A voice, perhaps, but I cannot make out any words."

They halted, listening silently. "I hear it too." Kya whispered. "Mumbling and muttering."

Sasha, in front of the group, brandished her axe. "How do we want to handle this?"

"I think Farrah is the sneakiest." said Caitlyn. "If she's willing to creep up for a look."

"Uh, yes?" Farrah kind of confirmed.

Kya suppressed a smile. "Okay then, Farrah. Go ahead, but first hint of trouble, you sprint back behind Sasha. Though if I know her, she'll already be on her way. Caity and I will cover the back while you're gone."

"I'm predictable." agreed Sasha.

Farrah nodded and slipped silently to the front of the party. In a moment, she was past the edge of Sasha's light and had disappeared into the darkness beyond.

"So how long do we wait?" whispered Sasha, nervously fingering her axe.

"Hello? Ith thomeone there?" a voice boomed down the passage. It may have been the same one they'd heard. It seemed a little more powerful than an average humanoid voice. It had a higher, slightly feminine lilt, and an odd lisp.

"Now sounds good." replied Caitlyn and Kya in unison.

The three rushed ahead, quickly coming across a wide-eyed Farrah.

"I have seen nothing yet." The Ranger whispered.

"All good. I think we're made." replied Kya. "Let's try diplomacy." She sheathed her sword and took a deep breath. "Yes, we're here!" she shouted. "To whom are we speaking?"

There was a moment of silence. "I am called Rainalli. And you?"