1. Arrival


"You're too kind," she says with a smile as she perches on the chair that Shorm pulls up. She takes the offered beer, but just holds it in her hands, not drinking. "I suppose I'll start at the beginning.
"My Fenton was always the adventurous type, you see. Always wanting to travel and see the world. And, at some point, he started getting these powers. He found he could do things, amazing things, just with his mind. He could make things move, just by thinking about it, or make these little lights appear. They'd do little dances in the air. It was so pretty.
"He started off just using it to make a bit of extra money on the side. Doin' tricks in the streets for pennies, that kind of thing. And that's how he met these people. adventuring types. Called themselves the Daring Delvers, or something daft like that. They told him that they were going treasure-hunting; that they'd heard rumours about some caves up in the Bleak Hills where you could strike it rich, and they said they could use a man with his talents.
"Fenton jumped at the chance, he did. He'd always wanted to something like this, something like in the stories the bards sing. I begged him not to go, told him it was too dangerous, but he promised me he'd be gone a couple of weeks, at most, and that he'd bring back enough money that we'd never need to work again. But he didn't come back, none of them did.
"I waited for weeks, then for months. I would pray to Frejya every day, asking her to bring him back to me, but he never came. I started to lose hope, and I thought I'd lost him altogether.
"But then I heard him! He called to me, in my dreams. He's still out there somewhere, alive, but he can't get back and he needs help.
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm not mad, I promise you! I see things sometimes, in my dreams, you see. Real things. I saw when the big flood was comin', five years back, and I knew it was real. No one believed me then either. But I was right! And I'm right this time, too. I know that Fenton's not dead, I just don't know how to help him, and I've been searching for months for someone who does.
"I'm not a rich woman, by no means, especially now that I'm alone, but I've scrimped and saved up every penny I could find, and begged for everyone who knows Fenton to chip in. If someone can bring him back to us, we can get together about 50 gold, I think."
She looks hopefully from one face to the other, eyes brimming a little with tears. "I've tried asking everyone I can find who looks like an adventurer, but they all keep telling me I'm daft and that I should just forget him. But he's not dead! I know it! I can feel him still."