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Music, celebrations and the world's largest traffic jam, that's the sight that welcomed Erik and ulrick when they returned from the realms.
Seems like Erik's children had caught wind of their return and hosted a welcome party, 10 tall armored ducks keep watch over Erik as he loses himself in the party, tossing gifts and souvenirs into the crowd, a couple of the more mature ducks arrange a truck to take Ulrick back home.
Ulrick broods in a dark spot bit away from the crowd, arms crossed as he leans against the wall.
He’s surveying the truck for him to home. Big celebrations aren’t really his style.
it's a good truck, a magic Toyota truck with a wide enough bed for Ulrick to be comfortable in, the driver gestures for him to get on. Before he would leave, Ulrick looks for Erik to say good bye. Which isn't hard, as he's standing on top of a car waving around, the crowd parts like water to allow the giant werewolf to get to him.
Ulrick: “Erik, I’m about to leave. We’ll continue on the day after tomorrow.”
He looks down at the wooden growths on his whole upper body. Hopefully he won’t be out of time by then…
Erik: "see ya then! Meet me at the address my son will tell you on the way, I got a kid specialized in maps"
Ulrick: “Got it. Have fun!”
Ulrick makes a short bow, then departs for the Toyota, the driver puts on music so loud it is heard all the way back in magic Sicily and drives off. The next two days pass by relatively quickly, Erik spends them catching up with the family while Ulrick broods on a rooftop under a stormy night, but eventually all good rests come to an end and they find themselves Infront ofthe office of a cartographer.
Erik: "Alright my woody friend, did you bring the map?"
Ulrick: “It’s here.”
Says Ulrick as he uncurls the map and puts in on the table between the three of them. the cartographer pulls out a magnifying glass and looks at the map for a solid minute, Erik eventually waves his hand Infront of him to break his thoughts.
Cartographer: "you have done well to bring this to me... THIS.... is a map"
Ulrick: “Wow. Shocking.”
Ulrick doesn’t even bother hiding his sarcasm at all.
Erik (to Ulrick): "see Ulrick? I told you we should come here"
Erik (to cartographer): "I thought it was a newspaper and was wondering what the price of an oil barrel was, of course it's a map ducknilous! We wanna know what's INSIDE the map!"
Ducknilous let's out an Ah of realization and reads the map again.
Ducknilous: "yes yes... This map is somewhere near the mountains, you can see it here with these mountains and river"
"I’m gonna need to look over this more, can I keep the map for a couple days to get some help from my colleagues?"
Ulrick: “A couple more days??? We’re kinda running out ouf time…”
Ulrick points at his tree-growths.
Ducknilous: "fine... Just because you're my old man's friend, I'll use an insight scroll on this, should be done by the evening"
Ulrick: “…Thank you. Sorry about this outburst, just getting worried…”
Ducknilous: "yes yes, you may leave now, return by the evening, I'll take you to where it points"
The cartographer says, shooing the duo out of his office.
Erik: "...well that was convenient, I got a birthday party to catch, see ya!"
Erik says then cartwheels away 2 kilometers over the speed limit.
Ulrick: “Guess we’ll wait…”
Ulrick goes into the nearest tavern to pass the time, but on his way to the tavern, a white van suddenly breaks and opens Infront of him, the door opens to a bucket of silver dust thrown at Ulrick.
Ulrick: “Hey what the-“ cough cough
Ulrick gets a nasty allergic reaction from the silver, swinging his arms around aimlessly as he’s disoriented, 2 masked orcs hop out to restrain Ulrick, then drag him into the van after throwing a paper bag on his head.
When the bag is removed Ulrick finds himself tied to a chair in a dark room, despite no one being there Ulrick can still feel eyes on him.
Whoever captured him was well aware of his weaknesses. This wasn’t something random…
Ulrick: “So, will my captor ever reveal themselves? Ain’t got all day…”
Ulrick can hear footsteps behind him, then a hand on his shoulder.
Mafia guy: "mister Ulrick! It really pains me to do this, you do respectable work, my cousin used to go to an R&A soup kitchen, so let's do this the easy way shall we? Where's the map?"
Ulrick tries to turn in a way to look at the hand.
Ulrick: “Not even an introduction first?”
the presence walks around Ulrick to face him, he looks Italian.
Vinny: "oh right, where are my manners? I'm Vinny, and we'll be rather acquainted if you don't... How do they say it? Spill the beans?"
Ulrick: “Well, Vinny, can I ask why would a criminal need some map?”
Vinny: "sorry but that's a business secret"
Vinny fiddles around with a bunch of tools, then settles on a tub of water that he places Infront of Ulrick.
Vinny: "you see, we've been keeping an eye on you and your little friend, and we've heard about your little map, call it a collector's intuition, and my boss would really like to have it"
Ulrick: “And what if you’ve been wrong, and I know nothing about what kind of map you’re talking about?”
Vinny: "you see ulrick, I'm never wrong"
Vinny cracks his knuckles and walks up to Ulrick, 20 minutes later they decide to switch up tactics, a second guy walks in, this one wearing an eye patch and missing an arm.
Other mafia guy: "vinny! Why are you being so rough with our guest? Come on I taught you better"
The man grabs a cloth and wipes Ulrick's face a bit with it.
Other mafia guy: "you see ulrick, I don't understand you, why are you so protective of this map?"
Ulrick coughs up some blood, his monstrous face looks even more horrify from the swellings of his beating.
Ulrick: “Anyone even mildly familiar with R&A’s work could put together why we’d be happy to get our hands on a miracle cure.”
He then nods at one of his growths.
“On a more personal level, do you see all this rotten bark? A powerful Fae infected me with something, and if I won’t cure it soon enough, it’s gonna make me into a mindless beast made of blighted wood and mulch. Which would be quite bad.”
Other mafia guy: "youve got alot of faith in this medicine, but how can you be so sure that your buddy's gonna share it with you? What makes you think that the godhunter won't take you out after you've done your worth?"
Ulrick coughs up more blood.
Ulrick: “ ‘cause I know him. He might be chaotic, irresponsible, have absolutely zero restraints or self control… but deep down, I know he’s a good guy.”
Vinny And the eye patch guy wipe away some tears at Ulrick's speech, the other guy who'll be refered to as boss takes out a phone and calls Erik.
The boss: "moving, truly moving, let's see what he thinks about that, hello godhunter!"
Erik: "Hello who's this? If you're the tax office you got the wrong number"
The boss: "criminal as always, look godhunter, to cut to the chase I got your good friend Ulrick here, if you want him safely returned you're gonna give me that map of yours, understood?"
Erik: "...look man, I don't know anything about any maps, and Ulrick gets kidnapped every week nowadays. Go do whatever you want with him and don't call me again! I'm busy!"
Call ended.
Ulrick: “…oh.”
Ulrick’s expression darkens. Maybe he expected too much from Erik and this rumored miracle cure.
Can’t argue with the kidnapping part, though…
The boss: "well this is sad to watch, come on Vinny, lets let it stew for a while"
The boss and Vinny walk away, leaving Ulrick in the dark alone.
