A Familiar Story - 4. The Ogre's Girdle

“Nature’s servant awaits.”

The next day was bright and clear, a marked improvement over the past few days. You woke wrapped around me as you usually did, our shared body heat warming us both. We shared the cost of two rooms with Jaheira and Khalid, wanting to give them their privacy. It was the right decision if the smiles on their faces were anything to go by.

We shared a breakfast from our bags, Khalid discussing the task for the next few days. There was an ogre that needed to be dealt with. You wanted to find a peaceful solution to the problem, as was your way. I was less confident, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. As we started our walk for the day, I actually let myself believe. Maybe this would could end well.

They headed south, following the road to a crossroad some eight hours of walking from the inn. Aerin recognised the path, though he now saw it in the light of day. To the west was Candlekeep, but his home was inaccessible to him. He would not be allowed in without a priceless book to add to the library’s tomes.

The group paused to take a quick lunch, Gaius vanishing into the brush to search for berries. Aerin sat against the road marker, eating a piece of dry bread.

“You never told me how you two knew Gorion,” he said.

Khalid looked down at his lap, his hands playing as he thought about the human.

“We had been friends for a long time. I know many will mourn him and celebrate his life when they learn of his passing,” he said quietly.

“And when I find the ones who killed him, they will suffer for the pain they have caused,” Jaheira said sharply, a murderous gleam in her eyes.

The look unsettled Aerin, not to mention that they never actually told him how they met his foster father. But the mage let it go, not wanting a confrontation.

Gaius returned as they finished their meal, a bit of juice dripping down his chin. The dragon’s tongue swirled around his chin, sucking the juice up.

“If we get separated today, let’s meet back up at the inn. If we aren’t together within a week, move on,” Jaheira said, looking directly at Aerin.

“I understand,” Aerin nodded.

The group left the cobblestone path, walking south-east. Jaheira had detailed ten square miles of area to comb in search of the ogre. Gaius flew high in the air, Aerin using his connection with his familiar to scout the area from afar.

“There’s a caravan in that direction. It looks like it was raided,” he said, pointing south.

“It might give us some clues,” Jaheira said. “Let’s go.”

The group hurried through the brush, coming upon the ruined caravan after ten minutes of walking. Three wagons sat in an arc, arrows sticking out of the west side of the carts. Aerin paled at the sight of the drivers, lifeless corpses laying on the east side of the wagons. One bore an arrow in the head, not even the cover of the wagons saving her life.

“B-bandits,” Khalid said, kneeling beside a dwarf.

“I’m not sure about that,” Jaheira denied, holding up a fire red gem. “They didn’t take this, and it was rather hard to miss.”

“I heard rumours of an iron shortage,” Aerin said. “Is iron worth more than a gem at this point?”

“Perhaps. There are no weapons or metal armour here,” Jaheira said, kicking at a wooden club. “Even the arrows have no metal. They’re just sharpened sticks with fletching. I’m surprised they flew.”

“Still t-there are arrows.... This i-i-isn’t the… the… the work of an ogre,” Khalid said.

“As much as I would like to give these poor souls a burial, we don’t have a shovel,” Jaheira sighed. “Their remains will nourish the wildlife nearby.”

She handed the gem to Aerin.

“You found the site, you deserve this,” she said, patting his back again.

This time, the mage was better able to resist the force of her hand, remaining on his feet.

“Thank you. I wish we could have gotten here sooner.”

“I-it is over a… a week old. There isn’t an-anything we could d-do.”

“We need to continue south to Nashkel. It would help keep things like this from happening,” Jaheira said. “And we will, as soon as this ogre is dealt with.”

The group continued combing the area, chasing away wolves and other wildlife as they walked. They stumbled across another upturned wagon, bodies strewn about. This time, they found gold on the bodies, confusing Aerin. What bandits would leave gold behind?

They took the gold, Khalid splitting it with Aerin. It was of no use to the dead as Gaius quietly reminded the mage.

A road cut through the area, the hunters turning west to follow the trail. Spying a figure walking quickly down the road, the group hurried to catch up to him.

“No time to talk! I need to reach Beregost! Governor must be told of the extra garrison of troops!” the man panted as he passed them.

Shrugging to each other, Jaheira motioned up the road. It was another hour before they ran into another person, this time a man in leather armour.

“Halt!” he demanded.

“To what purpose?” Jaheira demanded.

“I shall relieve you of your equipment and you will be allowed to live.”

“Sir, in case you haven’t noticed, there are four of us and only one of you,” Aerin said. “To attack us would be folly.”

“Hey, you’re that Candlekeep whelp,” the man said, squinting at Aerin.

He grinned as he unsheathed a sword.

“I can get a pretty price for your head.”

Aerin dropped a bullet in his sling, firing it at the bandit’s leg. The stone sank into his flesh, the sound of bone cracking in the air.

“You were warned,” Jaheira scowled, standing over the bandit as the man screamed in pain. “Now, by nature’s fury, you shall pay for your ignorance.”

Her mace swung down, crushing the man’s head.

Aerin grimaced at the bloody spectacle, replacing his second bullet.

“Khalid, deal with the bandit. We might get a bounty on him. My leg is troubling me again,” Jaheira said, limping to the side of the road.

Aerin listened to the woman chant, doing his best to ignore Khalid removing one of the bandit’s ears. A glow of light surrounded Jaheira. She stood up straighter as it passed, a breath of relief escaping her.

“You are a cleric?” the mage asked.

“Of a sort. I’m a druid, one of Nature’s servants,” the woman replied with a small smile.

“I’ve never met a druid, though I have heard of them,” Aerin confessed.

“We are a rare breed, and much more suited to the wilds than a city such as Candlekeep,” Jaheira explained as Khalid stood up from his task.

“We are- are ready to d-depart,” the man said.

“Excellent,” Jaheira nodded. “We haven’t had much luck in the south. Perhaps we should head northeast instead.”

Shrugging, Aerin followed the druid. She knew the wilds. She could probably track better than he could.

Climbing a short plateau, the group paused at the top to catch their breath, Aerin sorer than he had ever felt before. Running through the streets of Candlekeep with Gaius was no substitute for the cross country trekking Jaheira had done before.

The druid held up her hand suddenly, pointing into the distance. The wind shifted, and a stench hit the group, like rotting meat left in the midsummer sun. A tall puke-brown figure stood beside a tree, a club in his hand and a belt around his waist, holding up a ragged loincloth that did little to cover his groin.

Aerin stared at the ogre, steeling his resolve.

“Khalid, you stay behind me. I am unsure if your blade will affect its hide. Aerin, try to provide ranged support if you can,” Jaheira said quietly.

“Can’t we just ask him to leave the area?”

The druid stared at the mage.

“Gorion didn’t raise a fool,” she said sharply. “What do you imagine would happen if you approached that thing? Ogres have no intelligence to speak of. They just murder indiscriminately.”

“It knew enough to put a belt on,” Aerin said weakly.

Jaheira sighed.

“Fine. If you want to talk to the ogre, be my guest. At the first sign of aggression, I’m attacking.”

Walking forward shakily, Aerin placed his hand on Gaius’ head for support.

“You should go airborne, just in case,” he breathed.

“Be careful,” Gaius said, before launching off Aerin’s shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, Aerin called out, “Hey! I want to talk to you!”

The effect was immediate. With a roar, the ogre sprinted at Aerin. Gaius dove at the monster, his figure splitting into four copies as he crashed into the ogre’s back.

A green orb flew past Aerin, hitting the ground, where it sprouted into a tangle of spiked vines. The ogre stumbled into the vines, fighting the plants that seemed intent on tripping it.

Khalid ran past Aerin, his sword cutting into the ogre’s leg as Jaheira yelled at him. The druid cam next, her spell cast and her mace at the ready.

Letting out a groan, Aerin called upon arcane energies to sheathe himself in magical armour, in case the monster broke past the others. He launched a stone at the beast, striking the ogre’s chest. The blow was followed by a hit from Jaheira’s mace, snapping the ogre’s jaw.

He never stood a chance.

“You should have seen it coming,” Gaius said during their watch that night.

“I’m not in the mood Gaius.”

“It was an ogre. What was he going to do, say, sure, I’ll take my pillaging elsewhere.”

“You thought we could get through this peacefully too,” Aerin snapped.

Gaius fell silent, resting his head on Aerin’s lap.

“I want to go home,” the half-elf sighed. “And don’t tell me we can’t go home. I know that. But I still want to.”

“You know, I never thought adventuring would be so… lonely,” Gaius said after a minute. “We travel with two others, but neither of us really know them, and they don’t know us. Yet we are risking our lives for each other. It is strange.”

“Gorion trusted them.”

“But we are not Gorion. They have no obligation to help us, other than their consciences.”

“T-that can often b-be e-e-enough for good people.”

Aerin jumped, startled at Khalid’s voice.

“F-forgive me,” the fighter said. “I did… did not m-mean to startle you.”

He sat beside Aerin, dressed in a light gambeson. It was the first time Aerin had seen the half-elf outside his armour and the mage found his muscles entrancing. Aerin was not a small person by any means. Spellcasting often relied on the state of a person’s body, making most casters well muscled in their own right.

“We w-watch over you out...out of a-a-a responsibility to Gorion,” the fighter said. “I-I find it r-refreshing to see you work… work around the necessity of d-d-death.”

He smiled at Aerin in a friendly manner.

“A-and your… friend… has...has no need t-to fear talking ar-around us.”

Khalid placed a hand on Aerin’s shoulder.

“W-Why don’t you go… go to bed? I’ll t-take the rest of this… this watch.”

“Thank you,” Aerin smiled slightly, standing.

He moved over to his bedroll, sliding inside before Gaius entered next to him. It took some time, but eventually, the mage and his familiar fell asleep together.

The journey back to the Friendly Arm Inn was filled with much chatter the next day. We loosened up around Jaheira and Khalid, bantering back and forth as we had done in our past. The loss of Gorion was still there, and the desire to spare lives. But for now, neither of us thought about the world that was arrayed against you, against us. We were just a mage and his familiar, off on an adventure together. Even Jaheira cracked a smile at our antics.

Then we reached the inn, and Jaheira led us to a temple, where we dug into our gold to have the girdles identified. One was the belt Jaheira had been searching for, and she took ownership of the girdle. The other was cursed with a rather devious spell that would change the sex of the person wearing it permanently. You eyed that belt for a while, the result of a dream you had told me about once. I gave you a nudge, and you convinced Jaheira to let you have the cursed girdle. She smirked as she handed it over, but you didn’t care. If you could just find a way to remove the permanency of the curse, you knew you could have a lot of fun with the belt.

Jaheira spent a little extra gold to identify a ring she had picked up the previous day. Handing the ring to you, she informed you the ring would protect you in case she and Khalid fell. You thanked her graciously for the gift, sliding the ring on your finger. We both felt safer with the extra protection.