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When the stories of an adventuring party that had saved Neverwinter first reached him, Xenk decided he would be sure to congratulate the former Harper and his unusual gang if they ever crossed paths again. While he was not surprised to learn about the, admittedly extravagant, distribution of wealth, – his god had assured him the helmet was in safe hands and the thief’s oath would be kept – he was surprised by the warmth that spread through his chest at the news. Something like pride stirred his heart at the thought of Edgin Darvis surpassing the self-deprecating predictions he’d made of himself. So, he set his mind to tell Edgin, if they ever met again, that he’d heard what had happened and knew he was capable of great things.
He hadn’t planned, however, for that meeting to be one week later in the belly of a cave deep below Hundelstone. Xenk had been sent by his order after rumors of a giant spider, guarding a chalice that could control the flow of time had begun to spread. They were only whisperings for now, but if the rumors gained a foothold, there would be many young adventurers traveling here to seek it out, no doubt causing havoc in their stead. If the chalice did in fact prove to exist, that was another problem in itself. It was best to squash this myth and secure any potentially world altering items before things got out of hand. So, maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised when he heard the crumbling of stone behind him and drew his sword only to find a familiar face at the end of it.
“Not this guy again,” Edgin sighed, hands in the air as a look of recognition settled on his face. “It’s ok, Kira,” he said, looking over Xenk’s shoulder to a space that had appeared empty moments before. “He’s… a friend.”
Xenk turned to see a young girl materializing out of the air behind him, one hand on a glowing amulet, the other stretched out alarmingly close to the daggers on his belt. When she looked up to meet his eyes, she had the good grace to look sheepish, and pulled her hand away, straightening up.
“Sorry,” she smiled, moving around him to stand next to Edgin. He dropped his hands from the air to settle one around her shoulder and the other on his hip.
“You’re lucky it’s just him, moving around like that,” another familiar voice came from around a bend in the cave walls. Holga stepped out next, also joining Edgin in the strange lineup they’ve started in front of Xenk. “Haven’t you ever heard of stealth? How is it I’m twice your size and still manage to keep a low profile?” She punctuated the statement with a shove in the arm that seemed to almost knock Edgin off his feet.
“How is this my fault? Doric’s supposed to be on lookout for potential threats! A little heads up would have been nice!” He shouted at the ceiling. And sure enough, a bat dropped to the ground, transforming back into a tiefling to join the group.
“You said threats,” she retorted, a teasing smile on her face, “We know him. He could probably help us. I bet he could do this whole job alone, honestly. Actually, he probably is.”
“How many times do I have to tell you all to keep quiet? Who knows what could be lurking in this cave? I don’t know about you, but I am not trying to draw unwanted attention.” Simon stepped out from where Holga had been, completing the group. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see you again Xenk, but maybe this isn’t the place for a heartfelt reunion.”
At the sound of his name, the shock wore off, and Xenk finally sheathed his sword. “Right,” he said, “this is no place for small talk. I will escort you out of the cave and then return to my mission.”
That prompted a snort from Edgin. “Yeah, right, you and what army?” He seemed to contemplate his words for a moment before saying, “Actually, don’t answer that. But we’re not leaving until we’ve got what we came for.”
“If you’re here for the temporal chalice, I’m afraid I cannot let you take it. If it even exists,” he adds the final statement as an afterthought, hoping the possibility of finding nothing might be enough to dissuade the adventurers. He’d spent enough time with them to become well acquainted with Edgin’s peculiar brand of stubbornness.
“The what?” Edgin’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of such a treasure, and Xenk realized his mistake. But then he shook his head, “No, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’re the heroes of Neverwinter now,” he sounded almost disgruntled at the title, “Hard to nab anything like that with all of Faerun watching you.”
“We’re here to deal with the goblin problem,” Holga cut in. “A couple folks up in Hundelstone are willing to pay a pretty copper piece to be rid of them.”
“And if a couple of the trinkets they stole don’t quite make it out, we can hardly be blamed,” The young girl added, helpfully. Now it was starting to make sense.
“Kira,” Edgin gave her a sharp look.
“You said he was a friend!” She shot back.
“Not that good of a friend, bug,” Holga smiled down at her.
“Kira,” Xenk said, finally noticing the similarities between the young girl and Edgin, “your daughter? You brought her to fight goblins? In a cave of unknown enemies?”
“Hey, she’s fought way worse than that,” Simon piped up, “And we all will soon if we don’t shut up and get moving. I’m sure half the World’s Spine knows where we are by now.”
“He’s right,” Xenk conceded, “and if the rumors are true, there are much more than just goblins in this cave. I will not impede your quest if you do not interfere with mine. And I will accompany you out of the cave to ensure everything that was taken by the goblins finds its way home.”
Both Edgin and Kira opened their mouths as if to protest, but Doric stepped forward. “Guys, Simon’s right. We’ve got to start moving. Standing around arguing won’t get us anywhere, and you know Xenk could take us all out right now if he wanted to. Let’s just finish the job. At least you’re still getting paid.”
So, they did. The goblins turned out to be only the remnants of a tribe that had been driven from their home, and the combined the threat of the party (Xenk), as well as promise for sanctuary in a swamp where they could cause havoc and mayhem to their hearts content was enough to convince them to leave the town of Hundelstone alone. Leaving the stolen treasure was a harder bargain, but when Edgin told them somberly about the ghost in the cave that took revenge on petty thieves, and their pile of treasure began rattling and flinging pieces of itself against the wall, they were quick to abandon it as well. When Xenk had asked why the ghost hadn’t been active sooner and did they need to put it to rest, he was met with musical laughter from the pile of treasure, as Kira appeared in the middle of it, hand on that same amulet.
Deeper in the cave, they did find a nest of giant spiders, but the only thing they were guarding was an ordinary cup that held a rather unsettling amount of giant spider’s eggs. As the spiders had never caused any harm to the town above, they left it be, and instead Xenk resolved to begin dispelling the rumors of any magic in the caves.
Later, as they sat in a tavern in Hundelstone, a round of drinks the tavernkeeper had refused to let Xenk pay for in front of them, another townsperson to whom they’d returned several small trinkets, including a locket they’d said to be a family heirloom, came up to thank them once again.
Edgin, who had only just slid into the seat next to Xenk after playing a few songs for the patrons of the bar, laughed, and brushed off her praise. For all Edgin’s bravado, Xenk could still glance the self-doubt that lingered underneath that winning smile.
“It’s really not us you should be thanking,” Edgin was saying, “Those goblins were practically halfway to Kryptgarden when they saw Xenk here. We just carried your stuff back up.”
Which was a blatant understatement. If it weren’t for Doric’s tracking and Simon’s dispelling of traps, they’d have not found the goblin’s hideout in the first place. Not to mention the treasure would be lost if Edgin and his daughter hadn’t tricked the goblins into abandoning it. But Xenk was unable to voice these thoughts because as Edgin was speaking, he threw his arm around Xenk’s shoulders, jostling him slightly, and Xenk’s mouth suddenly stopped working.
And then Holga was saying, “I think you mean, I carried it back up,” and the table was laughing, and the woman was leaving, and everyone was moving on, settling back into whatever conversation they’d been having before the interruption.
But Edgin’s arm stayed around Xenk’s shoulders. And Xenk’s mouth continued to not work. It was not that Xenk was unused to being touched – many thankful citizens had touched his hands or his coat, or even bowed to kiss his feet, which he tried to discourage – but it had been very long since he’d be touched in such a familiar way. Despite his reputation as a paladin and servant of Tyr, Xenk was very aware that he was still Thayan, and still bore the mark of Szass Tam where anyone could see. Those who were not afraid to be near him still seemed wary of coming too close. It was a fact of life he’d accepted many years ago and hadn’t considered to be of any significance since. But now it seemed that his body was unfit to deal with being so near another human. His shoulders felt wound tight, and his brain seemed to be stumbling to keep up with the overload of sensory information. He glanced over at Edgin, who was smiling into his cup, watching as Kira challenged Holga to an arm wrestle, which Holga pretended to struggle through. Edgin did not seem at all affected by their proximity, so Xenk forced himself to relax, so as to better fit in with the rambunctious group. And when, many minutes later, Edgin removed his arm so he could gesture wildly to punctuate some story of an adventure that he was recounting to his daughter, Xenk told himself he did not miss the warmth it had brought him.
Later still, when the party had gone their separate ways and said their goodbyes, Xenk realized he had forgotten to tell Edgin he was proud of his work in Neverwinter. This was very unlike Xenk, as he did not often neglect the tasks he’d assigned himself, and the feeling unsettled him. As there was nothing he could do for them, however, he did not dwell too long on these thoughts, and simply prayed that Tyr or fate would allow him an opportunity to rectify his mistake.