A Long Wait

Rosencrantz poured another flask of oil into the lantern resting on the floor as Nanoc and Donlosia slept soundly on a bed nearby. Knowing they really couldn’t lift either of their two sleeping friends, they hesitate to step further into the room. Deciding at first to let them wake up of their own accord, Rosencrantz and Rowyn waited about half an hour in silence.

“Well, daylight will begin to fade soon and if we don’t do something, things could get much worse,” Rosencrantz mentioned worriedly. “Let’s drag them off the bed and see what happens.”

Rowyn opened the main doors to the keep that were through the foyer and antechamber of the keep before reaching the bedroom they were in. With as much light as possible in the entryway, they dragged Nanoc off of the bed. His body crashed against the ground in a gigantic heap of metal chainmail links with wooden plates fixed to them. Despite the landing, Nanoc continued to sleep soundly. They then proceeded to drag him outside in front of the main doorway.

Then they grabbed Donlosia and repeated the same procedure. Again, she slept as if she were at home in far away Amn. She was just as loud, but somewhat easier to maneuver. With both bodies outside and remaining unconscious, now their concern for their friends grew evermore.

“I think we’re going to need someone to try and remove the effect that the bed seems to have had on them,” Rosencrantz thought back to his days studying different types of magics and how they operated. This seemed to him to be some form of enchantment, which was subtle and guileful and not to his liking. As an invoker, Rosencrantz focused his studies on destructive magics and through his learning, eventually became so removed from other magics as to barely be able to understand them. He always felt that enchanters and illusionists were never to be trusted and certainly his instincts were not letting him down.

“How about if you go back to Tilverton and get help from the temple of Gond while I watch over the bodies? We can drag them around behind the keep, where we’ve camped before. Come here, help me take off their packs, armor and weapons so it will be easier to get them back there.” Rosencrantz looked at Rowyn and then nodded towards Tilverton and then behind the keep as he spoke.

The two began working as fast as they could while the afternoon sun began to make its trip toward the western horizon. Soon, Rosencrantz was watching the diminutive elven woman making her trip to Tilverton and thinking to himself about what he would do in the event of another set of Kobold guards to replace the ones they had defeated.

Then, he began to wait nervously.