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Barsoom Tales II: Romance, Revolution and BLOODY REVENGE!!! -- COMPLETE
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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 3835992" data-attributes="member: 812"><p><strong>Another Fine Mess: 15</strong></p><p></p><p>"The Khadisan awaits you."</p><p></p><p>At least somebody here spoke Imperial Kishak, mused Isaac as he advanced through billowing lines of curtains. Whoever this Khadisan was, she seemed to live at the center of a vast maze of hanging draperies. Everywhere thronged dangerous-looking men, most of whom sneered at the Saijadani and fingered the hilts of their scimitars invitingly.</p><p></p><p>Isaac tried not to let it bother him. He did as he was told, stepping through one curtain after another. He'd begun to suspect he was just being led around some four or five of these curtains, back and forth, when he found himself in an open space, without any sort of canvas over top of him for once.</p><p></p><p>High above, formations of those gigantic beetles drew his eye westward. There must be dozens of them, he realised. Entire squadrons droned along, their heavy buzzing just audible.</p><p></p><p>"I will call you Dominic."</p><p></p><p>Isaac brought his gaze down and found himself facing a rather plain Naridic woman with a weatherbeaten face and white robes. She sat on a low couch and all around her Naridic folks knelt with their faces to the floor.</p><p></p><p>Isaac wasn't sure how to greet her. He bowed.</p><p></p><p>"Uh. Ms. Al-Sharina, I presume?"</p><p></p><p>"I am the Khadisan."</p><p></p><p>That word set off an excited murmur all through the room. Some kind of ritual prayer, Isaac decided.</p><p></p><p>"Very well, Khadisan. You brought me -- waitaminute. How did you know I would be at that ruin? I didn't even know I'd be there."</p><p></p><p>The Khadisan smiled.</p><p></p><p>"Many things are revealed to the daughter of God. You are familiar with the production of gunpowder, and so you will serve in my alchemical factory."</p><p></p><p>"I have some friends that --"</p><p></p><p>"We are on our way to where your friends await. Worry not, Dominic."</p><p></p><p>"Okay. And you want me to make gunpowder for you? I'm not really--"</p><p></p><p>She laughed.</p><p></p><p>"My senior engineer requires an assistant. You will help him. He will be pleased to have you around. I'm sure you'll have much to talk about."</p><p></p><p>Isaac considered all this.</p><p></p><p>"I don't really feel like I'm getting a lot of choice here."</p><p></p><p>"That's good. I wouldn't want to give any false impressions."</p><p></p><p>She warbled something in Naridic and an unsmiling guard gestured back the way Isaac had come. The Khadisan had already turned away and was in discussion with someone else. Isaac considered asking for a little more respect.</p><p></p><p>The unsmiling guard smiled even less. His gesture took on a certain urgency.</p><p></p><p>Isaac sighed.</p><p></p><p>"Fine. But don't blame me if I blow something up."</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>Reyhan squinted and tapped another tiny pinch of powder into the flask. Satisfied, he turned to the workbench, where rested what appeared to be a stone about two hand-spans across, with a hole drilled into its center. The aging professor upended the flask into the hole and watched as the dark powder poured into the stone.</p><p></p><p>He was just setting the flask down when the curtained door pulled aside and two guards pushed a broad-shouldered Saijadani man into his workshop.</p><p></p><p>"The Khadisan, Blessed Be Her Name, sends you this foreigner as an assistant. He does not speak Naridic but the Khadisan, Blessed Be Her Name, says that he understands your work."</p><p></p><p>"Ah. Well, thank her for me."</p><p></p><p>Reyhan paid no attention to the sour looks of the guards, but instead turned to study the Saijadani man, noticing the heavy sword at his belt, the finely-made double-barreled pistols, the travel-stained garments and the angry set to his jaw.</p><p></p><p>Reyhan smiled and held out his hand in the Northern style. He spoke in Imperial Kishak.</p><p></p><p>"Greetings, sir. I am Reyhan al-Fasir beni Hassan. Welcome."</p><p></p><p>The Saijadani's relief at being addressed in his native language was obvious. He shook Reyhan's hand with a grin.</p><p></p><p>"Thank you, sir. Honestly, I don't know how much help I'll be. It's been a while since I was an apprentice..."</p><p></p><p>"I'm sure we'll find a use for you. You can grind powder for blasting? Excellent. First, let's put your weapons and other metal accoutrements away. No sparks, of course."</p><p></p><p>He put the Saijadani to work and they traded some pleasantries, but there was much to do and Reyhan wanted to first observe this fellow to ensure he wasn't going to be a danger in the lab.</p><p></p><p>It quickly became clear that Dominic had more than passing skill at this work. Reyhan brought him over to the main workbench.</p><p></p><p>"Now observe. This appears to be stone, but it is in fact carefully-crafted ceramic. We fill it with powder, so. Careful now. This wax is for sealing."</p><p></p><p>Reyhan always held his breath as he poured the melted wax over the volatile powder. There really wasn't much danger, but one couldn't be too careful.</p><p></p><p>Dominic studied the ceramic "stone" and then frowned at the immense store of similar stones beyond the bench.</p><p></p><p>"They look like cobblestones."</p><p></p><p>Reyhan smiled. He passed Dominic one from the empty pile.</p><p></p><p>"Look inside."</p><p></p><p>The Saijadani's brown eyes narrowed.</p><p></p><p>"It's scored. This is a. What? A grenade? It's too big. What are you doing?"</p><p></p><p>"We are going to Tallal."</p><p></p><p>"Good for us. But I'm thinking maybe bad for Tallal."</p><p></p><p>"The Tyrant's Shade has dispatched an army to Tallal. We will arrive ahead of them. In Tallal, there is a large open square in front of the Sharif's palace."</p><p></p><p>Dominic frowned.</p><p></p><p>"A square, my Saijadani friend, paved with large cobblestones. The Kishak army will assemble there."</p><p></p><p>"You can't be serious."</p><p></p><p>Reyhan's pleasant smile became murderous.</p><p></p><p>"They killed my son. They have taken my friends away, never to be seen again. My city bleeds under the Tyrant's Shade. The Narid will be free, my friend."</p><p></p><p>"You're going to set off --" Dominic's eyes went to the pile, "A few thousand bombs directly under the Kishak army?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh, no. Most of the mines have already been flown into the city. The total will be more like twenty thousand."</p><p></p><p>Dominic stared.</p><p></p><p>"You know, I told Arrafin her country was full of crazy people."</p><p></p><p>"Arrafin?"</p><p></p><p>Now it was Reyhan's turn to stare.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, Arrafin al-Fasir... wait a minute."</p><p></p><p>Both men stared, motionless.</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The Sharif's palace was humbler than Isaac had expected. He studied its domes and minarets as the workcrew laboured, levering up cobblestone after cobblestone and replacing them with the ceramic fakes he and Reyhan had filled with gunpowder. A question drew his attention back to the work. The work demanded a great deal of his attention.</p><p></p><p>Fuses had to be set with painstaking care to ensure that the explosions would be timed correctly. Isaac was impressed with Reyhan's careful precision.</p><p></p><p>But then, he should have expected that Arrafin's father would be every bit as brilliant as his daughter.</p><p></p><p>And every bit as crazy.</p><p></p><p>Reyhan was a history professor, not a chemist. Not an engineer. He'd taught himself the secrets of powder manufacturing (and developed a number of improvements Isaac had never seen before) in a matter of weeks, and overseen the development of effective anti-personnel mines, and been crazy enough to even think of this infernal scheme in the first place.</p><p></p><p>He was a charming enough man, with Arrafin's propensity with long, vocabulary-enriched stories that occasionally left Isaac scratching his head, but they got along well. Isaac's blunt pragmatism made for a useful contrast and they worked well together in the lab.</p><p></p><p>And of course he pressed Isaac for stories of his daughter, fascinated by the news that she had uncovered the secrets of sorcery, and equally by the strange and ancient characters they'd encountered in their travels. His questions and muttered commentary reminded Isaac powerfully of the young girl he'd been travelling with.</p><p></p><p>The Khadisan had told Isaac he'd meet his friends in Tallal, and he told himself that must mean they were all okay. He told Reyhan that she'd said he'd meet ALL his friends there.</p><p></p><p>He looked up again at the palace, and then around at the rest of the city. The great towering structure opposite the palace was the <em>Mullaham</em> -- the temple where Naridic people prayed to their desert god, Mullah. Isaac didn't really understand the religion but he assumed it had a great deal to do with the general craziness of everyone in this part of the world.</p><p></p><p>The Kishak army was only a few days away. Isaac encouraged the workers to go a little faster.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 3835992, member: 812"] [b]Another Fine Mess: 15[/b] "The Khadisan awaits you." At least somebody here spoke Imperial Kishak, mused Isaac as he advanced through billowing lines of curtains. Whoever this Khadisan was, she seemed to live at the center of a vast maze of hanging draperies. Everywhere thronged dangerous-looking men, most of whom sneered at the Saijadani and fingered the hilts of their scimitars invitingly. Isaac tried not to let it bother him. He did as he was told, stepping through one curtain after another. He'd begun to suspect he was just being led around some four or five of these curtains, back and forth, when he found himself in an open space, without any sort of canvas over top of him for once. High above, formations of those gigantic beetles drew his eye westward. There must be dozens of them, he realised. Entire squadrons droned along, their heavy buzzing just audible. "I will call you Dominic." Isaac brought his gaze down and found himself facing a rather plain Naridic woman with a weatherbeaten face and white robes. She sat on a low couch and all around her Naridic folks knelt with their faces to the floor. Isaac wasn't sure how to greet her. He bowed. "Uh. Ms. Al-Sharina, I presume?" "I am the Khadisan." That word set off an excited murmur all through the room. Some kind of ritual prayer, Isaac decided. "Very well, Khadisan. You brought me -- waitaminute. How did you know I would be at that ruin? I didn't even know I'd be there." The Khadisan smiled. "Many things are revealed to the daughter of God. You are familiar with the production of gunpowder, and so you will serve in my alchemical factory." "I have some friends that --" "We are on our way to where your friends await. Worry not, Dominic." "Okay. And you want me to make gunpowder for you? I'm not really--" She laughed. "My senior engineer requires an assistant. You will help him. He will be pleased to have you around. I'm sure you'll have much to talk about." Isaac considered all this. "I don't really feel like I'm getting a lot of choice here." "That's good. I wouldn't want to give any false impressions." She warbled something in Naridic and an unsmiling guard gestured back the way Isaac had come. The Khadisan had already turned away and was in discussion with someone else. Isaac considered asking for a little more respect. The unsmiling guard smiled even less. His gesture took on a certain urgency. Isaac sighed. "Fine. But don't blame me if I blow something up." ***** Reyhan squinted and tapped another tiny pinch of powder into the flask. Satisfied, he turned to the workbench, where rested what appeared to be a stone about two hand-spans across, with a hole drilled into its center. The aging professor upended the flask into the hole and watched as the dark powder poured into the stone. He was just setting the flask down when the curtained door pulled aside and two guards pushed a broad-shouldered Saijadani man into his workshop. "The Khadisan, Blessed Be Her Name, sends you this foreigner as an assistant. He does not speak Naridic but the Khadisan, Blessed Be Her Name, says that he understands your work." "Ah. Well, thank her for me." Reyhan paid no attention to the sour looks of the guards, but instead turned to study the Saijadani man, noticing the heavy sword at his belt, the finely-made double-barreled pistols, the travel-stained garments and the angry set to his jaw. Reyhan smiled and held out his hand in the Northern style. He spoke in Imperial Kishak. "Greetings, sir. I am Reyhan al-Fasir beni Hassan. Welcome." The Saijadani's relief at being addressed in his native language was obvious. He shook Reyhan's hand with a grin. "Thank you, sir. Honestly, I don't know how much help I'll be. It's been a while since I was an apprentice..." "I'm sure we'll find a use for you. You can grind powder for blasting? Excellent. First, let's put your weapons and other metal accoutrements away. No sparks, of course." He put the Saijadani to work and they traded some pleasantries, but there was much to do and Reyhan wanted to first observe this fellow to ensure he wasn't going to be a danger in the lab. It quickly became clear that Dominic had more than passing skill at this work. Reyhan brought him over to the main workbench. "Now observe. This appears to be stone, but it is in fact carefully-crafted ceramic. We fill it with powder, so. Careful now. This wax is for sealing." Reyhan always held his breath as he poured the melted wax over the volatile powder. There really wasn't much danger, but one couldn't be too careful. Dominic studied the ceramic "stone" and then frowned at the immense store of similar stones beyond the bench. "They look like cobblestones." Reyhan smiled. He passed Dominic one from the empty pile. "Look inside." The Saijadani's brown eyes narrowed. "It's scored. This is a. What? A grenade? It's too big. What are you doing?" "We are going to Tallal." "Good for us. But I'm thinking maybe bad for Tallal." "The Tyrant's Shade has dispatched an army to Tallal. We will arrive ahead of them. In Tallal, there is a large open square in front of the Sharif's palace." Dominic frowned. "A square, my Saijadani friend, paved with large cobblestones. The Kishak army will assemble there." "You can't be serious." Reyhan's pleasant smile became murderous. "They killed my son. They have taken my friends away, never to be seen again. My city bleeds under the Tyrant's Shade. The Narid will be free, my friend." "You're going to set off --" Dominic's eyes went to the pile, "A few thousand bombs directly under the Kishak army?" "Oh, no. Most of the mines have already been flown into the city. The total will be more like twenty thousand." Dominic stared. "You know, I told Arrafin her country was full of crazy people." "Arrafin?" Now it was Reyhan's turn to stare. "Yeah, Arrafin al-Fasir... wait a minute." Both men stared, motionless. ***** The Sharif's palace was humbler than Isaac had expected. He studied its domes and minarets as the workcrew laboured, levering up cobblestone after cobblestone and replacing them with the ceramic fakes he and Reyhan had filled with gunpowder. A question drew his attention back to the work. The work demanded a great deal of his attention. Fuses had to be set with painstaking care to ensure that the explosions would be timed correctly. Isaac was impressed with Reyhan's careful precision. But then, he should have expected that Arrafin's father would be every bit as brilliant as his daughter. And every bit as crazy. Reyhan was a history professor, not a chemist. Not an engineer. He'd taught himself the secrets of powder manufacturing (and developed a number of improvements Isaac had never seen before) in a matter of weeks, and overseen the development of effective anti-personnel mines, and been crazy enough to even think of this infernal scheme in the first place. He was a charming enough man, with Arrafin's propensity with long, vocabulary-enriched stories that occasionally left Isaac scratching his head, but they got along well. Isaac's blunt pragmatism made for a useful contrast and they worked well together in the lab. And of course he pressed Isaac for stories of his daughter, fascinated by the news that she had uncovered the secrets of sorcery, and equally by the strange and ancient characters they'd encountered in their travels. His questions and muttered commentary reminded Isaac powerfully of the young girl he'd been travelling with. The Khadisan had told Isaac he'd meet his friends in Tallal, and he told himself that must mean they were all okay. He told Reyhan that she'd said he'd meet ALL his friends there. He looked up again at the palace, and then around at the rest of the city. The great towering structure opposite the palace was the [i]Mullaham[/i] -- the temple where Naridic people prayed to their desert god, Mullah. Isaac didn't really understand the religion but he assumed it had a great deal to do with the general craziness of everyone in this part of the world. The Kishak army was only a few days away. Isaac encouraged the workers to go a little faster. [/QUOTE]
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