Kidnapped

Sidequest with Helga while the grownups are busy.

Characters: Helga, Darryl, Devrik Feranthale

After considerable trauma, Helga finds herself being raised by her three new moms in Orintheldir Manor: Genesa (first mom, her rescuer, but distracted by duties), Nancy, and Greta. Each cares for her and has ideas for how to raise her. Each has given her a gift: a dagger of venom. Greta’s teenage (for an orc) son is her constant companion and is charged with keeping her out of trouble.

They venture out in the woods near the orchard one day and encounter a male dwarf who claims to be Helga’s uncle and wants to take her home. Darryl puts up a fight, but the dwarf knocks him out and insists that Helga come with him to go home. She decides to play along, but leaves a trail for Darryl to follow to find her when he wakes up. The dwarf takes her to a cart, but once she is inside it she is (even more) suspicious, because it doesn’t seem like a dwarf cart. Challenged, he drops the illusion of being a dwarf and reveals himself as Genesa’s evil (and undead) uncle Devrik.

Darryl catches up with them and attacks the undead sorceror, distracting him enough that Helga is able to stab him with the dagger of venom. The poison doesn’t have any effect, but the dagger does and between the two of them they manage to overpower and finally slay the evil man who has plagued them for so long. Helga finds the Candelabra of Shadows and several jars of black honey

Returning to the manor, Darryl was disciplined for not being alert enough or taking good care of Helga, but Helga herself felt empowered by her victory over her guardian’s uncle and nemesis, and ferociously curious about the candelabra which the grownups took away to store safely where they thought she couldn’t get to it.

Written on August 1, 2017