Into the Icy Darkness: The Great Demon War

[Emperor Valerian]

Ik-Mataar

Tess roughly pulled Shaun and Elenya away from Lucius as Siabrey started to sob, rocking and cradling his shaking form.

“We need to find that sword, now!” she said sharply, her voice carrying a tone of command they had only heard from her rarely. “Go! I’ll check under the bed! You two check the dresser!” They nodded, and it took the two of them to open it up.

“What the?” Shaun said quietly. He had fully expected to find clothes or jewelry in here... but instead what he saw was a veritable trophy case of items, large and small. He and Elenya quickly began digging. A small pile of items was losely tossed out, ranging from a pink rapier to several rings, before Shaun spotted a dim glow, hidden under several bundles of wrapping. Gingerly, he pulled them away, and gasped.

Laying on the paper before him was an enormous sword, easily a bastard sword, milk white in its color, with what appeared to be bronzed inlays along the blade, and a solid brass hilt. It literally gleamed with power, and carefully, Shaun slipped it out of hte dresser, his heart knowing for sure.

This must be it! The sword!

”Ah... finally.... someone decent, instead of that brute of a priest.” Shaun heard in his head.

“What?” he said aloud.

”Oh yes, I can converse with you... as you are currently holding me. My name is Ik-Mataar, and I do hope that you do plan to use me as I was intended.”

“How was that?” Shaun said, starting to walk towards the completely distraught Siabrey clutrching her Lucius.

”To slay demons and their thralls.” the sword replied in his head, the voice sounding cheery as if it had been waiting to let someone know that information for quite some time.

“Siabrey!” Shaun said, touching her shoulder. He had never seen her quite this broken... even the dark night Elenya disappeared. Her face was stained dark with tears, her red eyes seemingly larger due to the redness of her eyelids from her profuse cries. Despite all this, her shattered face exploded into a range of emotions from relief to joy as she took the blade briefly, before thrusting it into Lucius’ hands. She noticed almost immediately his shallow breathing deepened and steadied, and his slight shaking stopped. She gratefully cradled him close to her, whispering, “It will be all right, Luke. It’ll be all right.”

Over the course of the next several minutes, she felt his heat go down, and watched as his skin returned to normal color, as did his eyes. Finally, he blinked hard several trimes, and looked up into her eyes.

“What happened?” he said, his voice very thin and almost not present as he asked his oft repeated question.

“I... I almost lost you,” Siabrey said, shaking her head slightly as tears of relief streamed down her face. “I almost lost you,” she pulled him close, “but you’re fine... you’re safe!” We’re safe!

After watching the reunion quietly and with a smile, Shaun returned to the pile of items he’d pulled out of the dresser, and called over Pellaron to take a look at them. Pellaron sifted through them, and Shaun eagerly grabbed everything that was not evil...

Among the items found was a rather unique rapier, its blade pink in color, its hilt a red scarlet with an entangling leaf pattern to its pommel, where a rose resided. The blade smelled faintly of roses, and Siabrey (once Lucius was able to walk over, as she refused to part from his side) noted it was magic.

Another item was a ring that Tess quickly picked up and put on once it was okayed. It was a simple gold ring with a large, clear crystal in the center. As she put it on, her own face filled the clear crystal, and she felt more beautiful. She knew this might be the case when she noted Lucius and Shaun both staring slightly longer than neccessary at her.

So... this makes me more beautiful... it should be interesting to find this item’s history.

The party also found three red arrows, three black arrows, and three blue arrows, which Tess set aside to be identified later. Additionally, Pellaron pointed that another ring was one that provided resistance to elemental magic. It was quickly foisted on Lucius.

Another strange item found looked something like a crossbow. It had a trigger, though its grip extended down, instead of a butt one could place against one’s shoulder. In addition, above the grip, extended forward, over the trigger and a few inches beyond.

“I wonder what this does,” Tess said, pointing it at the wall. She squeezed the trigger, and ten blasts of energy shot from the item, blasting indentations in the stone wall.

“Ten magic missiles,” Elenya said in wonder, and Siabrye scowled as her sight noted that all the magic in the item was gone.

“You wasted it!” she grabbed it from Tess. “Its all gone now!” Lucius, with a tender, though weak, word, advised that it could possibly be refilled.

Numerous jewels and monies were found as well. Finally, near the back, Siabrey felt something large, flat, and round. Tugging, she managed to pull it forward, and saw the edge of a steel shield of unusual brilliance. With a final grunt, she pulled it all the way out of its hiding place, and gasped in shock.

The shield was large, but far lighter than steel. Siabrey had encountered mithril items before, and that in and of itself was not too shocking. What was shocking was the famiy insignia engraved on the front of the shield.... that of the Sipner family.

The family of Siabrey’s mother.

“That... that’s the Sipner family seal,” she said, sitting down. The shield did not look like any she remembered from her mother’s shield hall, or any that any of her cousins or relatives would have carried. Indeed, it looked positively ancient. She knew there were stories of many in the Sipner family past that had been lost to never return, and likely this came from one of them. She was about to set it back int the drawer, as she had no use for the shield, but then Lucius grabbed her hand.

“I... I need a shield, love,” he said quietly, “and after how steadfastly a Sipner helped defend me today, I would consider it an honor to carry that shield.” Siabrey smiled, leaned over and gave him a kiss of gratefulness... for the compliment, for him being him, for him being alive.

“Aww... isn’t that sweet? Can we go now?” Tess asked, rather huffily. I personally don’t want to be caught in the High Priests chambers, with his stuff, and his body lying nearby.

The party gathered up the items they would take, and the paladins grabbed Igbar’s body, Lucius placing a ring of gentle repose on it so that he would be in proper form for ressurection once he reached the Temple of Hieroneous. The party, as they came back to the main hallway, heard the noises of the fighting between the demons and devils far louder now, and thus ran forward, away from the noise... and happily into the atrium of the Temple.

A barbazu and four imps looked up in surprise at the party’s sudden arrival, but ten arrows and a fireball from Lucius caused them not only to no longer wonder, but to not even exist. Gingerly, the party dashed towards the exit to the Temple, and glanced outside.

The air of the desert was still, and quiet. It did not take much searching though to find Kelir’s handiwork. Splayed onto the cliffs far above lay the bodies of many humans in bloody Grazz’t clothing, and numerous small piles of sand on the desert floor attested to the grisly fate of many.

Seeing and hearing nothing save the noise of fighting growing larger, the party dashed outside, and began hiking back towards where their horses were tethered. To speed things up, Lucius used a spell he had known for quite a while to ferry people: Tenser’s Disk.

(DM’s Epilogue: The party narrowing avoided a spider demon in the bestiary of the temple... it was the creature making the chirping... a little mean part put in by me. It had been tethered up in one of the stables, and if it’d be released, it would have had some fun.

As for the magic items the party found (All are created by me... save #3, which came off of the WotC boards):

1- The Pink Rapier – “Heart’s Rose:

Heart’s Rose was the lucky rapier of Vrees Helmsford, also known as the “luckiest bard alive.” Vrees had a penchant for surviving situations where others could not; at one point, he was hit directly by a blast of fire from a dragon and walked out without a singe. According to legend his sword was part of his luck.

Vrees’ downfall came when he was busy with a barmaid one night, and had removed his sword from his person. According to rumor, once she had parted him from his sword, the barmaid (really an assassin sent by a rival) stabbed him to death.

Heart’s Rose is a rose colored +1 rapier, with a crimson hilt that ends in flower-like motifs. The elegant design of the blade marks its wielder as one of great stature and taste, granting a +1 circumstance bonus to all Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Bluff Checks. In addition, some of Vrees’ famous luck remains on the blade, granting its wielder a +1 luck bonus to their saving throws.
2- Ring with Clear Crystal – Ring of Elumarra

Elumarra was a beautiful forest nymph who lived many years ago near the walls of Iskeldrun. Prince Lysander, heir to the Imperial throne, was out hunting one day when he suffered a fall, and the kindly nymph took him to help. He fell in love with her, and she with him. She gave him an exquisite ring, with a clear crystal that held its owners face.

Lysander, however, was killed only a few days later by an assassin, and Elumarra was crushed. She killed herself in despair, and her visage disappeared from the ring.

The Ring of Elumarra has a large, clear stone as its centerpiece. A face will appear inside the stone depicted whoever is currently wearing the magic item. The ring’s magic powers then go to work, infusing the wearing with a measure of its former owners beauty and grace, adding a +2 to all charisma based checks for the wearer.


3 – Magic Missile Pistol

This strange item looks like a long, thin cyllinder, with a rectangular
handle and a trigger (in short, a common pistol). As a standard action, the
user may aim and fire the Pistol, at which point ten Magic Missiles shoot out
at the target. Like the spell Magic Missile, the missiles deal 1d4+1
damage and strike without fail.

The Elemental Protection Ring and Arrows are special as well, but you’ll have to wait till later installments to see what those do! )

 

[Emperor Valerian]

A Mission Accomplished

As the last of the party members arrived at the small cave where they had left their horses, Siabrey was surprised by very much pleased to see Kelir sitting outside of the entrance. She checked him over carefully as she ran up to him. Not a single, cut, wound, or scrape. Thank Hironeous! she thought inwardly, as outwardly she threw thankful arms around her father and held him close. Kelir, still adjusting to this kind of close contact with a daughter he never knew he had, withstood the hug for several moments before drawing Siabrey back.

“I am glad to see that you are all well…” the siabrie began, before seeing the wrapped up body that was Igbar. “Oh….I am terribly sorry. You have lost a comrade.”

“We’ll take him to the Temple of Hironeaous; they will take care of him.” Aris gave a small bow to the corpse of his former compatriot. “He fought and died well for a noble cause. There is no greater end.”

“The strength of Kord sometimes does require death.” Grumki remarked somberly, which for him involved a voice-level somewhat less than an ear-splitting shout.

Kelir nodded, but checked over the rest of the party. They all seemed remarkably unhurt, although his daughter’s lover, the red-haired boy, seemed slightly preoccupied and was staring at a new sword that hung from his belt.

“I have to admit, I am surprised that you were able to handle 200 men by yourselves.” Kelir continued.

“Well, we kind of had help.” Siabrey remarked bitterly, and began to explain about the mini blood war that had been going on inside.

“So, you are telling me that these…demons…and devils….do not like each other?” Kelir began.

“More like bloody hell hate each other with a fiery passion.” Shaun interjected.

“Yes, and somehow the current owners…the Grazzt demon worshipers… tried to summon a demon, but the Temple of Hextor’s summoning circles were designed to call devils…” Pelleron finished. “So there was a mishap. Most likely they tried to call a demon and got a pit fiend instead, who saw what was going on and summoned more devils, while the Grazzt clerics began to summon demons to combat the pit fiend.” The Hironeaous priest gave a small shudder. “There was so much evil in that place.”

Tess and Elenya had meanwhile gone to her saddlepack in the small cave to find the poor girl something to cover her nakedness besides Siabrey’s cloak. They came out a few minutes later, Elenya now wearing a stylish blue tunic with gold etching that was slightly too big for her, but she had the sleeves rolled up and had tied a golden strip of cloth around her waist in lue of a belt. She still looked slightly pale, and Shaun immediately rushed over and helped her to sit down on a nearby rock.

“Oh sweetheart…” he whispered, tears beginning to form in his eyes as he cupped her cheek gently. Elenya swallowed a sniffle and threw her arms around him. Tess reached out and stroked her hair softly. “What did they do to you, Elenya?”

Eleyna broke out into full tears at this, sobbing into Shaun’s shoulder. “Horrible horrible things…” she began, then suddenly bit Shaun’s shoulder. Her sobs came louder as she hickuped and laid an arm on his shoulder, healing the bite.

“They…they cursed me….turned me into a wendigo.”

“A wendigo? What’s that?” Shaun questioned, looking at Eleyna worriedly. Tess thought back to all her bard songs. “It’s…it’s a creature that needs raw meat to survive.” She said cautiously, looking down at Elenya sadly. “You poor thing.”

“They…they did other things too. But…” Elenya glanced at Pellaron and Aris fearfully. “The paladins have to promise not to hurt me when they see what I am now…”

Pellaron dropped to one knee and took Elenya’s hand graciously. “Have no fear, we battled hard to rescue you from evil, evil that you have already shown great bravery in facing. We swear on our honor to not judge you harshly, no matter what was done to you in that vile place.” Aris nodded and confirmed what Pellaron had said. Elenya took a shaky breath and drew her hand from Pellaron’s.

“Alright. Let me show you then.” She motioned the others back as she stood on the rock. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she closed her eyes and lifted her arms. As the party watched, nothing happened for a few seconds, then suddenly a change came over Elenya’s body. Dark bumps rose and formed themselves into feathers all over her body as her arms elongated and her legs shorted. Claws formed from her now three-toed feet, and her face stretched to form a long yellow beak. Less than 30 seconds later, a 4-foot raven stood in front of them all. It glanced around at their shocked faces, gave a small ‘squawk’, and transformed back into Elenya.

“A were-raven…” Pellaron murmered softly.

Tess blinked. How strange. All the stories of were-beasts say that they are controlled by the moon. Yet Elenya was able to transform in the middle of day, and was completely in control of herself! “How can you control it, Elenya?” she asked out loud.

Elenya was still shaking slightly at the revelation of her new form. “I…I was strong. When they did it to me. I also had lots of time to thinking about it, sitting in that cell….” She swallowed and went on, her face a little stronger and braver. “I also learned some magic by watching others use it against the others in the cells. I vowed that one day I would use it against my captors.” Shaun enfolded her in a hug, smothering his tears in her hair. “And so you did, my love. And so you did.”

Tess meanwhile had pulled a small silver ring set with three bright red rubies…her wish ring. She clasped it gently in her hands, fingering the jewels gently. “I can remove the curse of wendigo, Elenya.” She said softly. “The were transformation too.” Elenya pulled back from Shaun’s embrace enough to look up at Tess. “I would like the curse removed, thank you Tess. But…I think I’d like to stay as a were-raven.” Her faced hardened again. “It could be useful.” Tess surveyed the young women carefully, then gave a small nod. “You are, indeed, a strong women Elenya.”

Closing her eyes, she focused on the wish ring clasped in her hand and thought with all her might. “I wish the curse of wendigo to be removed from Elenya.” The ring grew warm and gave a single pulsating vibration before one of the three jewels shattered. Elenya gave a gasp, and them smiled happily. “It’s gone.” She whooped and jumped up to give Tess a hug before Shaun pulled her back down into his arms. He seemed highly reluctant to let her go.

Kelir, who had been keeping back watching the whole affair, also smiled. Such love is rare…and precious indeed.

Grumki had been eyeing the horizon, and now that the party had finished welcoming Elenya back, he decided now would be the best time to speak. “Perhaps we should ride out. The strength of Kord does not require hanging around the den of demons and devils.”

Elenya laughed and got to her feet. “It is good to hear about the requirements of the strength of Korn again, Grumki. I agree though, let’s be off.”

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Of Promises Made


Saddling up quickly, the party rode off hard into the desert, but only got a few miles before nightfall. Shaun was all for riding as fast and as far as they could away from the temple ruins, but Elenya was completely exhausted, and asked if they could please stop for the night. Considering all that she had been through, they agreed, and pulled up their horses near a small stone outcropping.

As the party set about putting up a camp, Shaun pulled Elenya aside, and whispered in her ear, “Hon... I need to talk to you for a minute.” She gave him a thin, but genuine smile.

“About what?” she asked quietly, looking up, trying to read his eyes. She frowned, as she evidently couldn’t deign his underlying plan.

“Um... can we talk a little away from the party? Its something kinda... um... private I want to tell you.” Please be patient, Elenya, I’ve never told you this before... and its kind of dear to my heart... Siabrey is the only one that knows...

“Um... ok?” she said cautiously as he led her about 50 feet away from the rest of hte party, quietly so they were out of earshot.

“Elenya,” he said, turning to face her, “I’d like to tell you about a dream I used to have.” She looked around, and found a resting spot on a large flat rock, and she sat looking up at him. Nervously, Shaun started to pace, as he recalled his terrible dreams of darkness and laughter, his frightening childhood.

“Elenya,” he said finally, dropping down next to her, “after I met you... the dreams changed. Instead of laughter, there was love. Instead of darkness, there was light. In my dream, you came and you opened the door, and filled that dark room with your love... and I love you more than anything in this world!”

The two hugged tightly, and Shaun felt her mouth the words, “I love you too,” into his shoulder. As her grip tightened, he released on his pulling away, brushing a tear from his eye. Elenya, please don’t be mad at me....

“I have more to tell you,” he said, his voice a little husky. “I...well... was under a lot of... um... stress... when we pulled you from the Temple. And I didn’t react when you said you were pregnant... I apologize for th...”

“Ssshhh,” she calmly whispered, putting a finger over his moving lips. “I understand.... and it is your child, do not worry about that. My only wish was that I would have had a chance to tell you under much happier circumstances,” she sighed, then looked into his eyes. “Do you...”

“Yes, I still love you,” he smiled, his hand slowly moving her finger away from his mouth. “I.... I need something from you.”

Elenya cocked an eyebrow. She gave a slight grin, though she said, “I appreciate the sentiment, but honestly Shaun I’d much rather cuddle...”

“The necklace,” Shaun gestured. Elenya’s slight grin changed to confusion.

“Why?” she asked as she took off the fine silver chain with the pierced gold coin attached. True, it was not a finely wrought piece of jewelry, but it had been her connection to him through the dark days in the Temple.

“This,” he said as he broke the necklace on the ground, “was the first gold coin I ever stole. Came from a rich merchant’s pocket in Haripania. I wore it was a symbol of my strengths... what I was proud of. I have a new life now,” he wrapped his arms around her, “and I need a new symbol.”

“Are you partial to people being symbols,” Elenya smiled, understanding the transformation he had undertaken. He nodded, pulling her tight.

“I would lie if I claimed I wasn’t scared to be a future parent,” Shaun whispered into the top of her head. “I’m young, I have no clue how to raise a child...” He felt her shake from a chuckle as she rested her head on his chest.

“Well then,” she said, leaning back, a genuine smile on her face, “its better being scared together than scared apart,” she quipped. Shaun laughed, and pulled her tight again. The gods have blessed me with the perfect person by my side! I love you Elenya... and you too... little.. um... what name will we call it? He? She? Um... he stopped worrying, and isntead focused on the warmth of love coming from the short girl by his side.

Siabrey watched the whole encounter between Shaun and Elenya with a sick feeling in her gut. The guilt that had been consuming her over the past two days was coming alive again. As Shaun and Elenya walked back to their camp, hands happily linked, she ran over, apologized to Shaun, and dragged Elenya back down the hill.

Tess meanwhile had been digging through her bag. Where is it! I know it’s in here somewhere… She thought frustratedly before her fingers connected with a large smooth surface and with a small cry she pulled out the ring that she had found in the High Priest’s quarters. Let’s see, I know that this thing is called the ‘Ring of Elumarra’, and it makes one seem prettier while reflecting their face inside its stone…Seems perfect to me! She walked over to Shaun and thrust the ring into his hands. He looked down at it blankly then back up at her. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “It’s for you to propose to Elenya, stupid.”

“Oh…oh!” Shaun suddenly smiled crazily and took off down the hill to where Elenya and Siabrey were talking.


“Elenya, I don’t know if you realize this yet, but….it wasn’t you they were after.” Siabrey blurted out once they were alone, unable to look Elenya in the face. “It was me.”

Elanya smiled sadly and reached out to touch Siabrey’s arm. “I know. It was really obvious once we got back to the temple that they weren’t glad to see me. They kept mumbling about ‘the fire-eyed one’.” Siabrey swallowed past the lump in her throat and gazed at the ground through blurred eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Elenya. If it weren’t for me…” she turned away slightly and muttered, half to herself. “I’m sorry that I’m still here…Can you ever forgive me?” Elenya reached out and grabbed Siabrey’s shoulders firmly, much in the same way that Shaun had. “There is nothing to forgive, Siabrey. You fought as hard as anyone to get me out of there and defend me. In fact.” She smiled ruefully. “I remember it was you that helped rip the bars off my cell door.” Siabrey glanced up at her, misgivings still dancing in her eyes, but at that moment Shaun came running down the hill, a strange mixture of joy and anticipation in his eyes.

“Can we have a moment, Siabrey?” he asked without looking at her, having eyes only for Elenya.

“Uh…yeah, sure.” Eyes still darkened with despair, Siabrey backed away and headed back uphill to stand beside Lucius, who immediately wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to draw her out of her revere.

Down below, Shaun faced his love, butterflies doing cartwheels in his stomach.

Elenya’s eyes danced with merriment as she gazed up at him. “So what is it, Shaun? You seem awfully happy. Last time that happened you tossed a desert grasshopper in my bodice…”

He shook his head, completely at a loss at how to begin. “No, no pranks this time... I... uh... well...” How do I go about this? he thought, and after a moment of stumbling with words, settled on some with a determined sigh. “Elenya, I have something else very important to ask you.”

“I could be cheesy with this... like I could do this upside down with the slippers on,” she giggled at the memory of their fun time with those slippers. “But I don’t want to do that.” He laughed nervously. “I haven't done this before... but then again, neither have you... so hey! Let’s jump into this together!"

“Shauny, what are you talking about?” Elenya punched his shoulder gently. Her eyebrow had raised once again in her questioning mode.

He caught her hand and fingered it with his own, stroking its smoothness softly. “Well, you see, these past couple of months have been…well to be honest, some of the scariest of my life. I’ve met and fought more vile things than I care to remember. But through it all…you were there for me. Elenya, I love you more deeply then anything that life or death could offer, and I’d be honored if you’d share it all with me.”

Her shining eyes were glimmering now as bright as the stars above. He dropped to one knee and reached into his pocket, pulled out the ring, and slipped it onto her finger.

“Elenya…” he whispered softly, staring up into her beautiful eyes. “Will you marry me?”

The moment seemed to hang in infinity before it tipped over as Elenya cried out. “Yes!” and dropped to her knees in the sand, wrapping him up in a tight bear hug. “Oh Shaun, ever since that first night that I met you, I knew that you were the one for me!” she sobbed happily into his shoulder.

Relieved, Shaun pulled her close and hugged her back as their tears of happiness flowed.

Up on the hill, everyone smiled down on the newly engaged couple. Pellaron nudged Tess and whispered to her softly. “Do you think I should offer my services?”

“What?” Tess looked at him curiously. The paladin shruged. “I AM a cleric, I have the ability to officiate a wedding.”

“Hmm…” Tess thought. “Why don’t you ask them?”

Shaun and Elenya came up the hill still hugging and smiling broadly. Pallaron jogged up to them and gave a small bow. Tess couldn’t hear his words but it was plain from the looks on the couple’s faces that they were considering his option. A glance at each other a moment later decided it for them though.

“Nay,” Shaun said, his arm around Elenya’s waist pulling her close. “I think we’ll wait till we’re back in a more ‘civilized area’.”

“Besides,” Elenya giggled. “My parents would kill me if I got married without some sort of big bash for them to blow a lot of money on.”

“Very well,” Pellaron said.

“But hey, when we do do the deed.” Shaun grinned at his choice of words. “You can be the one to make it official then.”

“I wouldn’t want any other cleric.” Elenya touched Pellaron’s arm with a smile, and the paladin blushed.

“Thank you, ma’am. I would be honored.”


The rest of the party had hug back, watching the exchange and feeling very happy for the couple.

“It’s nice to see that the strength of Kord can still create love in spite of such recent sorrow!” the half-orc yelled. Lucius winced and looked up at Grumki. “The strength of Kord requires love?”

Grumki smiled wisely. “Oh yes. Strength of any kind is sacred to Kord.”

Meanwhile, Siabrey had been walking back up to Elenya, still combating slightly with her guilt. Maybe I can’t take back the past, but I can be an even greater friend to Elenya to try to make up for it. Siabrey thought. As she reached the young women, she pulled her aside a few steps and shuffled her feet nervously in the sand before looking her in the eye. “Hey Elenya, I…I think it’s really cool, you being a were-raven and all.”

Elenya smiled softly and lifted her arms. Her smooth skin appeared to melt like butter as feather-like patterns formed themselves onto her skin before lifting and becoming 3D tatoos. Her arms extended, feathers jutting out from their surface and cascading down into long shiny black wings. She lifted her chin as her black hair rippled in an invisible breeze. The feather patterns began to appear on her face and torso as her clothes reformed into a covering of black feathers. Her legs bent slightly as her ankles elongated and her five humans toes melted into three, each completed with a nasty-looking talon. Lastly, her face extended and condensed into a remarkably pretty blend of raven and human.

“This is something called a ‘hybrid form’.” Elenya’s voice, normally smooth and sweet, carried an added grating edge that sounded something like a raven’s cry. “It’s inbetween my human and true raven forms.”

Siabrey nodded appreciatively. “It really is quite nice.” And I mean it too. Elenya blushed. Her friends were taking to her new form much better than she had hoped. Siabrey suddenly smiled mischiviously, and turned her back to Elenya. Throwing back her shoulders, she extended her wings and beat them a few times while raising an eyebrow suggestively. Elenya smiled in understanding and turned her own back to Siabrey. The pair began flapping their wings in unison and giggling very loud.

From a few feet away, Shaun and Lucius stared at them slightly slack-jawed. “Dude, I don’t know whether to think that that’s hot, or that our girlfriend’s are crazy.” Shaun mouthed out of the side of his mouth to Lucius, who simply nodded and tried to swallow.

Tess stood a little off to the side, feeling very alone. She sighed deeply as Elenya and Siabrey finished their show and ran up to their boys, still giggling, as they threw their arms around their necks.

“And I still have no one.” She complained under her breath saddly. Siabrey heard however, and took her leave of Lucius’s arms and jogged up to Tess.

“Hey, Tess! It’ll be ok.” Siabrey threw a comforting arm around her friend’s shoulders and whispered confidantly in her ear. “There’s always Pellaron you know. The paladin has been eyeing you, and he’s very available…” Pelleron, who was nearby checking their mounts feet for any stones, suddenly gasped and dropped the hoof he was examining and stormed over to Siabrey and Tess.

“Excuse me.” He muttered to Tess as he grabbed Siabrey’s shoulder and dragged her down to the bottom of a small hill.

“Just what exactly do you think you’re doing?” he hissed once he had her alone, a look of something verging on panic in his eyes. Siabrey shrugged off his hand gently. “Just trying to hook you up. I’ve noticed you staring at Tess. Oh don’t look so surprised,” she added at his shocked expression. “It’s quite obvious if you know what to look for.”

Pellaron turned half away from her and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “So what if I do.” He commented half to himself, gazing up to where Tess was still staring down at them, confused. “She’s smart, funny, beautiful…” he blushed slightly and turned back to Siabrey and threw up his arms in frustration. “But I’m a paladin! I have NO experience in these matters whatsoever?”

“Wait, wait.” Siabrey held up a hand. “You’re 188, and you’ve never gotten any….EVER?” At Pelleron’s crestfallen look she tried hard to prevent herself from giggling. “Wait here.” Leaving the worried looking paladin, she dashed up to Shaun.

“Where’s that book of Sune that I gave you?” she demanded. He gave her a funny look but went over and dug through his saddle pack, finally pulling out the leather-wrapped volume. Grabbing it with a hasty ‘thanks’, Siabrey ran back down to Pellaron and thrust the book into his hands.

“Now then, here in the beginning is basic anatomy.” She began to instruct, flipping through a few pages. Pelleron’s face grew redder and redder, and the finally looked as though he might faint as Siabrey continued. “And here near the back…whoa, ok, there’s a few chapters that Shaun and Elenya scribbled…” Her head turned to the side to get a better look, and she didn’t notice him closing his eyes and giving a groan of distaste.

Up above on the hill, Tess had given up watching Siabrey and Pellaron. She had a pretty good idea what they were discussing, especially since she had seen the ‘Sune’ icon on the book when Siabrey had rushed past.

Pellaron may be somewhat attractive, but he’s really not my type… she mused as she spread out her bedroll. Besides, I have other things on my mind right now other than romance… Dropping to her knees, she cupped her hands together and offered up a quiet prayer for Quinn as a single unnoticed tear trickled down her cheek.

The Temple has been destroyed, Elenya has been returned. But much remains to be done. The Blackroses must be destroyed, the Countess must pay...

...and Rogar must suffer for his crimes...

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Some Closure at Last….

The next day, the party mounted up and began to ride towards the Balarac Mountains, where Xanadu had said that the ‘younglings’ were being held captive. On a whim, Elenya decided to fly ahead to scout for the party. Shaun expressed some worry at this; clearly he did not like the idea of her going off alone, but she assured him that she could take care of herself, and after thinking back to her crazy lightning bolting back in the temple, he reluctantly agreed.

The party stopped so that Elenya could dismount. Before their eyes she transformed to her true raven form (something Shaun thought was quite beautiful), and took off into the sky. The party mounted up again and kept riding, Siabrey holding the reins of Eleyna’s horse.

Come midmorning, Kelir spotted a black shape winging back toward them in the distance. The speck soon resolved into Elenya, who transformed to hybrid in midair and dropped onto the back of Siabrey’s horse, nearly causing it to buck.

“Rogar! Rogar’s ahead!”

“What?” a collective gasp wen through the party. The were-raven nodded and gestured with one feathered hand. “A few hours ahead, maybe less.”

“How many riders does he have with him.” Tess hissed. At least, a chance for revenge.

Elenya’s excited voiced caused them all to tighten their reins with anticipation. “Only two.”

Siabrey glanced around at her friends and saw her decision mirrored in their eyes. “Let’s ride!”

“I will scout ahead to confirm the distance.” Kelir offered. Siabrey nodded to him, and the siabrie took to the sky.

“You’d better stay with us, hon.” Shaun said to Elenya. “Rest up, you may need it.” Elenya nodded and the party stopped long enough to transform back to full human and get back on her horse.

A short while later Kelir returned, confirming that it was indeed Rogar, accompainied by only two of his black riders. When asked how far he replied. “Elenya was correct, only a few hours ahead. You can easily overtake them, they are not riding hard.”

“Not riding hard?” Siabrey looked at Tess and Shaun in puzzlement. “I wonder why?”

“Where are they?” Tess’ eyes shone with a scary mix of anger and joy as she ignored Siabrey’s question.

“They are riding more at an angle than you. If you keep this course, you will intersect their path at about midday.” Kelir hovered, telling them.

“Let’s go then!” Tess kicked her horse hard, spurring it into a fast gallop that the others quickly copied.

The next several hours was spent riding hard, Kelir playing lookout, speeding back and forth faster than the eye could blink to recount how close they were getting.

Almost before they knew it, Kelir came zooming back. “They are just over that ridge!” he yelled about the pounding of hooves. “You are riding parallel to them now!”

As one, the party veered to their right. “Now’s the time for your crazy fireball skills!” Shaun called laughing to Lucius, whose eyes glinted in agreement.

“Remember, we want Rogar alive so we can question him!” Siabrey called out as they galloped over the ridge and spotted their nemesis at long last.

Rogar glanced up at the sound of the war whistles floating on the breeze over towards him, and felt his heart go dead in his throat as he spotted seven fierce-eyed warriors galloping towards him at full speed. Before he could even spur his horse from a lope to a gallop, the green-eyed, red-haired boy whom he had neglected to kill what felt like years ago, raised a finger in his direction and muttered an arcane word that he couldn’t hear. A small glistening ball flew out towards them, expanding as it came.

The fireball landed with a loud “Whump!” that instantly killed the three horses and burned their riders severely. They had barely gotten to their feet however, when Siabrey’s arrow and Tess’s songstrike snuffed the life from the blackguard on Rogar’s right, while the one on his left fell surprised as Lucius’ and Shaun’s arrows made a pincushion out of him. In complete shock, Rogar turned to run.

He hadn’t gotten more than 10 paces when he heard the pounding of hooves and turned to see a fire-eyed fighter sweep down on him with his blade. The sharp edge was turned away however, and as she galloped past she whacked him hard with the flat edge. The blow was not enough to drop Rogar however, but he was clearly stunned as he swayed on his feet. He didn’t even see the hilt of Lucius’ sword before it crashed into his skull, finishing the job that Siabrey had started as Rogar fell unconscious.

Dismounting quickly, they stripped Rogar down and cavity-searched him for traps. Being a known assassin, they took nothing to chance. In his pack and on his person, they found a few charms, some magic items, a magic composite longbow (and some deadly looking poison arrows)…and letters.

Lucius grabbed the packet of parchment and began to scan through them, his face falling as he did so.

“What do they say Lucius?” Siabrey asked quickly. He snorted in a mix of disgust and rage and handed them to her to read outloud.

Some were battle orders, written to people Siabrey did not recognize. A handful of them appeared to be bribes to nobles in Irulas…among them the Baron of Tor. Siabrey nearly crushed that letter as she remember the arrogant Baron and his ‘peacocks’. All of the letters were signed by the Countess herself, and offered a great sum for their ‘tretchery’, which ranged from providing no troops at all, to providing many men, and then switching sides at a decisive moment in the battle.

The Paladins left suddenly, taking Grumki and Elenya with them.
“We will not hear or see anything.” Pellaron called over his shoulder, and Tess suddenly realized that they left so that they wouldn’t have to stop the coming ‘interrogation’. She was glad that they had taken Grumki and Elenya with them; Grumki had no personal quarrel with Rogar, and neither had Elenya. As they left, Shaun, Tess, Siabrey, and Lucius eyed each other.

“I guess it’s just down to us.” Lucius breathed softly, shaking slightly at the thought of what they were about to do. Even Shaun looked slightly distraught, while Siabrey just looked sad.

Tess however, eyes hard as flint, as steel, crouched in front of Rogar. “Let’s get to it.” she said, and reaching back, slapped Rogar across the face.

Several hard slaps and kicks later, Rogar opened his eyes blearily. What he awoke to was far from pleasant however. He was stripped naked and tied so tightly that he could barely feel his hands and feet. Furthermore, a fire-eyed warrior held a rune-marked katana to his throat, while a blond bard crouched in front of him, an exquisite dagger uncomfortable close to his nether region. A dark-eyed rogue stood nearby, twirling a sharp-looking dagger in his hands expertly, while the red-eyed boy he was trying to corrupt stood next to him, a strange-looking bastard sword clasped tightly in his hands. There was no mercy on any of their faces, although the fighter’s red eyes held something that looked a bit like sorrow.

The bard reached out and rapped Rogar’s shoulder sharply. “Hey you, pay attention. We have some questions that we want to ask you.”

Rogar ceased gazing around at his interrogators and turned not-quite-sane eyes on Tess. In a strange high voice he crooned to her. “Ohhh, it’s the pretty bard with the dead brother. Did you like my gift, my dear? Roses are so beautiful aren’t they?”

Tess’s eyes grew bright with rage and she poked at the area exclusive to men with her dagger. A cheerful “Zap!” rang through the air as electricity spiked from the dagger to cascade around Rogar’s privates. He gave a sharp intake of breath but other than that gave no sound.

Siabrey took over the interrogation, fearful of what Tess might do if Rogar goaded her more.

“Why were you riding west?” she asked roughly, her sword point a half-inch away from his pulse.

He giggled insanely and rolled his eyes. “What is west?” he wondered aloud, eyes not focusing.

Shaun stepped forward at that point, and knelt next to Rogar’s tied up, splayed hands.

“You know, when I was younger, I used to do this bar-trick where I’d stick the point of my dagger between the fingers of a friend, faster and faster.” As Shaun talked he began to demonstrate on Rogar’s slightly burned hand. “It’s been a long time though, and I’m out of practice.” He emphasized by nicking one of Rogar’s fingers slightly. “Oops. See?”

Rogar ignored the bard and stared over Shaun’s shoulder at Lucius. Suddenly he cried out and began to yell wildly.

“Prince Alexander is in the city! Brother of Princess Zoe in Irulas, and they are fighting, fighting, siblings fighting! The City of lights! Wonder! Wow!” he giggled, staring directly at Siabrey. “The same Zoe that wants your boy...” Siabrey’s brow furrowed in anger as Rogar leaned close and hissed with a sly smile, “and she will capture him... no bit of bed generaling will stop it!”

He babbled on insanely for a few more minutes. Suddenly, he stopped in mid-sentence and stared at Siabrey as if seeing her for the first time. It was then his eyes revealed their true depths of perversion... a calculating insanity, one that hoped to goad the party into dispatching him before anything damning was uttered from his lips.

“It’s the fire-eyed demon. The one we must kill to reunite the boy with his mother!” he ogled her, his face contorting into a twisted, frightening smile.. Siabrey grimaced angrily, as this comment was too much for her, and with a swift slash of her katana, sliced both his cheeks open. Rogar didn’t seem to notice the blood tricking down his face, but stared at her unblinking for a moment. His eyes cleared momentarily, and spat at her. “You should have been dead. Would have been, if my fool soldiers hadn’t captured that little whore instead!” His face then changed again, from the violent contortions of anger, to an almost casual, frightening smile... a lazy grin.

Shaun twitched sharply and brought down his blade square in the middle of Rogar’s hand. The assassin gave a small cry of pain, and suddenly seemed to go delusional.

“Ilia! Ilia my wife, my incredible wife! She is leading a force into the valley!” he yelped.

“A force of what?” Siabrey’s voice was tinged with surprise.

“Mongrels! Beasts! Human-haters, all of them! They will strip the city, burn it, kill all who live there. The invasion force of quarter million will conquer all!” His rants suddenly stopped, as if he had planned to let the information out. On seeing their looks of terror and confusion, the lazy smile returned to his lips.

“250…thousand…” Siabrey heard Lucius gasp, and she echoed his worry. Such a force was far more than they had reckoned for, and she doubted even the Imperial Army could withstand that many.

“Tell us more.” Siabrey hissed at Rogar, moving her katana closer to his throat. He merely laughed. "I am dead anyway, why should I tell you anything!?”

He is toying with us! Tess snarled, If he toys with me, I shall toy with him! By using his son!

Tess pressed her dagger between his legs again and hissed at him. “Because if you tell us, your son may be spared a long and painful death in favor of the quick hanging of a traitor!”

Rogar stared at her uncomprehending for a moment. “You don’t have Shivalas, no one can capture my son! He is like me. Invincible! Invincible!” Rogar’s face had changed again... from calm and cool to angry. It was clear Tess had hit a nerve.

“Wrong.” Tess continued in that quiet hissing voice. “We captured him on the day we killed the false governor. He awaits trail right now in Irulas. He will die.”

“Tess, no, don’t tell him anything.” Siabrey hissed at Tess, but the bard ignored her, entirely focused on extracting her own terror and fear from Rogar.

“We will also capture your wife, and kill her too.” Tess waved the dagger almost lovingly around Rogar’s genitals. Siabrey and Shaun shuddered as their friend spoke, her voice amazingly calm, but deadly quiet, “So please, tell us what you know... I should not want to spoil your pretty wife’s face, or lop off her arms...” Tess trailed off, her voice frightening.

Rogar blinked, and seemed to get control of himself again. He stared at Tess and his lips curled in a mockery of a smile. “You should see all the new things that my wife has been busy learning. Awesome, new powers.” He gave a slight chuckle, “Like the power to be able to steal a soul on its way to the underworld.” He stared at Tess, insane laughter in his eyes. “Souls that come from the newly dead…soul’s like….Quinn.” His eyes were full of delight at her sudden, recoiling reaction.

Tess started back, her eyes wide with terror and sudden fear, before they narrowed swiftly and she gave an outraged cry. With a wild sweep, Fa’rallan sliced through his member. Shaun and Lucius visibly winced, but Rogar didn’t move, didn’t so much as even notice that his most prized possession was gone.

“She has the power to capture those souls…and destroy them.” He finished, jeering at Tess’ suddenly tear-filled eyes. “So say goodbye to your precious brother, Tesseron the Harper, for you will never see him again, in life or in death!” Rogar laughed, in the same motion proffing his neck forward, daring her to strike.

Tess bared her teeth in a while snarled and leapt for Rogar’s throat, her dagger raised to end his life.

“No!” Siabrey reached out and caught Tess’ arm firmly. She fought to get free from Siabrey dropped her sword and used both hands to subdue her friend. “No Tess!” she stared her friend firmly in the eye. “We still need him. He may know more that he is not telling us.” Tess glared at her, naked fear painted on her face.

“But Quinn…” she gasped. He wants to hurt Quinnie, despite the hurt he’s already caused! He wanted to hurt Elenya! Igbar is dead because of him! He should PAY!

Siabrey shook her head. “He’s lying. No one has the power to steal souls in flight back to their maker.” She glanced at Rogar angrily. “But even if they did, how would they know which soul was Quin’s?” she eased her grip on Tess’ arms slightly. “Also Tess, remember that the temple was going to raise Quinn. They must have done so by now. I’m sure your brother’s ok.”

“Dead, dead, soon you’ll all be dead, souls caught and ripped to shreds.” Rogar sang gleefully behind her, a pool of blood forming on the desert sands between his legs and just as quickly being absorbed by the dry wastes.. Tess glared at him over Siabrey’s shoulder, but then drew a shuddering breath, her will for vengeance breaking only slightly.

“Ok. But keep him away from me. Else I am not responsible for my actions.” Tess sheathed Fa’rallan angrily and stomped a little ways off where she continued to watch the proceedings with arms crossed.

You should have ended his miserable life there, Tesseron! part of her mind snarled. He even proffed his throat towards you... he WANTED to die!

Yes, another part said, He wanted to die... which is exactly WHY you should not kill him... force him to live, even if its for a little while longer...

Tess, what has happened to you? a distant and growing part of her mind questioned. Remember who you are! Don’t let him destroy you as he has tried to destroy others! If your rage transforms you, he wins!

Tess visibly shuddered, and as the party continued to keep busy with Rogar, a few tears came down her face, even as Rogar continued verbally haranguing her.

Siabrey drew a deep breath and retrieved her fallen sword, taking up her position in front of Rogar’s. Shaun looked up at her from Rogar’s ruined hand with a somewhat sad expression.

Siabrey’s voice was wavering slightly as she lifted the point of her katana to Rogar’s throat. “Now tell me, what exactly is in this army that is marching in Irulas.”

Rogar ignored her, continuing to yell taunts to Tess until Siabrey slashed him across the forehead. Blinking blood from his now completely insane eyes, so calculated on causing terror that they screamed with horror, Rogar hissed and whined and sang about “Ice-demons and fire-demons and spiders and beasts, oh my!” and refused to say anything solid. His complete lack of information, coupled with jeers at each of them in turn further enraged Shaun and Lucius.

Finally, Rogar, starting to feel dizzy from loss of blood, began to chant about “the return of the blue-eyed boy and the rein of evil magic that would cover all.” He stared seemingly right at Lucius and Siabrey, “His red eyed whore will lead him to his doom!” Glancing over at Lucius, Siabrey was shocked to see his eyes glowing with anger.

“I think that’s all the information we’re going to get from him.” He said thickly, and nodded to Siabrey. With a single stroke, Siabrey twisted her sword across Rogar’s mouth, and his tongue flopped out to stain the sand red. Sighing unhappily, she turned to clean her blade.

“What shall we do with him.” She asked, her voice shaking. He is such an evil person... but I don’t want to do this... not in cold blood!

What did you think would happen, Siabrey? That you all would convert him to sing around the campfire?

No... but I didn’t expect such... sadness...

“Let Tess have the honor of kill him?” Shaun asked. Tess had come over to stand by them after Siabrey had cut out Rogar’s tongue, and was reaching eagerly for her dagger.

“No.” The hardness in Lucius’ voice surprised them all. It was the voice of a man, thick with disgust and the knowledge that the pain of what they had all just witnessed would be with them for a very long time. “I know the fitting end for a traitor such as he, and as Count I shall pass judgement. Tess, get me that rope we found in his pack.”

Tess’ eyes widened momentarily, then she nodded and hurried to comply with his orders. Tess... he kept you from crossing that dark line... her mind acknowledged how close she came to being fully consumed by hatred. You are Tesseron... not a piece of fear to be manipulated.

Typing the ropes securely to their four horses, Lucius untied Rogar, who made no attempt to run, but instead swooned from all the lost blood. Lucius then gagged him. He tied the other ends of the four ropes one to each limb.

“Rogar Gaeldi Mithras, as Count of Holstean, ordained by Tarantor on High Himself, and judge an adjucator of your trial on charges of treason,” Lucius intoned, his voice devoid of emotion, “I do hereby sentence you to the penalty befitting a treacherous person. You shall be drawn and quartered forthwith. Have you any last words?” Rogar’s weakened frame made an attempt to spit at Lucius, but only sputtered blood.

“On my command, Tess.” He said to the bard, who stood by two of the horses, ready to send them into a gallop with a slap. Lucius went to stand by his two horses. The four comrades stared quietly down at the man they had once considered friend.

“See you in hell, Rogar.” Siabrey said quietly. Part of her cried that she had to find it neccessary to do this to someone. She was a warrior with many dead in her wake, true, but they had all fallen in battle, not as a neutered, naked man. Then again, none of them had harmed her so deeply either. Her eyes went wide as Rogar’s lips curled into one final smirk.

“I’ll hold the door open for you, Red Eyes,” his eyes, sweet and unnervingly angelic, screeched by at her.

“Yah!” Lucius yelled suddenly, slapping his two horses on the withers. Tess did the same to hers, and an instant later the desert was filled with the sickening sound of bones breaking and limps being torn from a body as Rogar was drawn and quartered.

After the horses had been stopped and the ropes untied, the bard, fighter, rogue, and young man stared down at Rogar’s corpse. The sand was stained red for several feet around, and Siabrey had a strange vision of this particular dune always being painted red with the blood of deceit and vengeance.

“And so it ends,” Siabrey sighed and stared down at the dismembered and hardly recognizable corpse of Rogar. It had needed to be done, but the act still left a bitter taste in her mouth. Despite all that he had done, she still felt somewhat sorry for him. She remembered an honorable comrade in their search for Lucius, a joking friend whom she had teased, and a valiant warrior in their fight against Ananias. I wonder how much of what he’s done was because of his choices, or because of the evil that flows in his veins. For she had just remembered that Rogar was half-brother to the Countess, and thus carried the same demon-corrupted blood... the same blood that was also in her beloved Lucius...

Tess started down at the body for a few more seconds, then turned and began to gather up the items they had gleaned from him. Over in the distance, she could see Pellaron and the others just beginning to come back. Wanting to spare them the distress of seeing Rogar’s mangled body, she whistled to her comrades to hurry up so they could get away from this tainted place.

Together, the four friends rode out to meet Pellaron and the others, who merely asked what they had learned, and not what had transpired. Tess told them anyway about what Rogar had said about her brother’s soul, and Siabrey related the information about the approaching army and about the Princess and her brother both being in Irulas.

“We have to warn them!” Elenya cried.

“I know.” Lucius said, thinking hard. “But how? We’re more than a week’s ride from the nearest city, and we promised Xanadu that we’d come to the mountains to help him.”

Siabrey glanced around at her fellow party members. Suddenly, her eyes met her fathers and there was her answer ,clear as day, although the prospect was frightening.

“Kelir can go.” She said softly. The party stepped back and looked at her in shock as she faced her father. The siabrie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Me?” he asked softly. Siabrey nodded her head and began digging through her pack searching for paper and stylus. “You’re the fastest, you can cover four times the distance in the air that we could on horseback. You don’t need to go to Irulas, just to the nearest town.” She finally found her writing utensils and thrust them at Lucius. “Here, write a letter to Zoe, tell her of what we’ve learned.” Lucius’ own eyes widened but he obeyed, scribbling furiously. Siabrey went on hurridly, afraid that if she stopped she might urge her father not to go. “All you need to do is take this letter and the letters we took from Rogar and pay a messenger, the fastest that they’ve got, to take it to Irulas. Here.” She dug through her pouch, pulled a few platinum from it, and enclosed hem in the sibrie’s longer-fingered hand. He looked at the unfamiliar currency with worry, but she smiled at him. “Don’t worry, just hand them all the coins. More money means faster messenger.”

“I’m done.” Lucius said, finishing the letter with a big flourished signature and rolling it up with the others. Siabrey took them from him gratefully and handed them to Kelir.

“Be safe father, and when you have delivered this message….” She took a deep breath. “go back to your home on the desert.”

Kelir looked at her sharply and shook his head. “No child, I will come back and find you.”

Siabrey shook her head, small tears beginning to glisten in her eyes. “You cannot father. Don’t you remember what you told me? You are only safe within the boundaries of the desert. We are going to the mountains, there is no desert there.” Kelir hesitated still, not wanting to yield to the wisdom of his daughter’s words.

“You will…come visit me?” he asked softly, his heart beginning to throb angrily. Not a week past he was content with his life, unknowing that he had a daughter. But now, he felt as though he might break at the thought of leaving her to face unknown perils alone. But she’s not alone, is she. She has Lucius, and the others. And they have proven to be a formidable team.

“I will come visit, father. I promise.” Siabrey’s fists clenched and relaxed twice, then she threw herself into her father’s arms again.

“Wing safe, daughter.” He told her, using the traditional goodbye of a siabrie without meaning to. She merely smiled through her tears and whispered the phrase back to him.

“Wing safe, father.”

As Kelir turned to go, Siabrey suddenly gave a small cry.

“Wait!” she dug through her pack again and pulled out another sheet of parchment and a quill. Quickly, she scribbled an address on its surface and then thrust the paper and quill into Kelir’s hands.

“Write to mother for me. Tell her…tell her everything that’s happened, and tell her about yourself.” Siabrey stood on her toes and kissed Kelir on the cheek unexpectedly. Kelir nodded, gazed one last time into his daughter’s red red eyes, and then turned and flew as swiftly as he could into the sky. The paper in his hands crinkled and his heart thrummed wildly at the thought of writing to Stodiana. The spot where Siabrey’s lips had brushed his cheek burned brighter than the sun as he disappeared from his daughter and her compatriot’s view.

Siabrey drew a deep breath at his leaving, and felt two strong hands drop gently onto her shoulders from behind.

“That was a brave thing to do, beloved.” Lucius voice, calm and sweet, washed through her. She turned with a sob and buried her face in his chest. Lucius smoothed her hair gently and kissed the top of her head while whispering soothing words to her. A few minutes later, Siabrey felt another gently touch on her shoulder as the scent of roses washed over her. Turning, she faced Tess, the beautiful bard who had grown to be as close as a sister.

“You will see your father again.” Tess said gently.

Siabrey swallowed. “As you will see your brother again.”

Tess regarded her quietly, then held out a hand. “Thank you for trying to be there for me when I needed it, Siabrey.”

Thank you for being there, in my darkest hour... for holding me back, when I neared the abyss of blind rage. For forcing me to remember how to be myself, and not getting swallowed by my fury.

The fighter took the proffered hand gently. “We are friends Tess; what are friends for.”

The bard smiled. “Shall we go help Xanadu and his babies?” Siabrey grinned. “Totally.”

Once again, the party mounted up and rode off, this time however, they were short one party member, one siabrie, and one of their number had been transformed into a were-raven. However, their hearts were full with their recent victory against evil, the finding of the sword that had saved their young friend, and the fact that they had finally conquered one of their most dangerous enemies and left his body to rot in the desert sands.

 

[Lela]

*Stunned*

 

[Emperor Valerian]

The plot twists only get better as the game goes on. Right now we're two sessions ahead of whats been posted. I'm going to work hard this week, and hopefully get the next session posted sometime late next week.

After that I have spring break, so hopefully we will have a chance to get all the way caught up with teh adventures of Siabrey, Tess, and Shaun.

 

[drag n fly]

I'd like to jump in at this part to comment on our DM's plot twisting skills.

I won't spoil any of what's not posted yet But I will say that the session we had a few nights past caused me to loose a few hours of sleep mulling over the events of the game and decisions Siabrey should make. That, I truely believe, is the mark of a good DM; when you can make the line between the story and reality blur enough that its like falling in an adventure story that you don't know the end of, and you want to stay up late reading under the covers by flashlight.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

The lack of sleep is unintentional, though I take it as a compliment. The next installment is going to be posted slowly, basically as I finish them.

And thus begins the adventure from the 27th of February... with more plots and fights, wow!

One Ring to Find Them... (cheap, I know, but fitting )

The party rode away from Rogar’s demise with a mixture of happiness and regret. All were relieved that one of their greatest banes no longer walked on this plane, but all were troubled by the event, for varying reasons.

Siabrey was troubled by the act itself. Previous to this, when Siabrey had been a mercenary, she had hunted down beasts; sandhogs tearing up villager’s gardens, ogres menacing local children... she had never hunted people. True enough in her line of business, many men had fallen beneath the blade of her katana... but they always died when she was defending someone, or something. Never had she actively chased down another human to rend him to pieces like that.

Shaun was still furious that Rogar, once his fellow prankster in arms, had conspired to hurt his beloved Elenya so. For his murder of the kindly Dingalas. For how much pain the man had caused his friends... nay, part of his mind would interrupt, the family that loves me.

Tess for her part had tumbled dangerously close to an abyss, and had stared deep into the throaty maw of a life spent on vengeance. It had called to her, harshly and lovingly at the same time... and nearly seduced her into its horrible grasp. She shuddered at the thought, yet part of her still sighed with relief and smiled remembering the look of horror on Rogar’s face...

Very little was spoken of the previous events as the party made camp for the night, nor after they set watch. Shaun spent another night curled close to his Elenya, happy to have her warmth next to him again. Siabrey and Lucius also spent the night snuggling... while Tess once again wrapped herself in blankets as her heater. As she lay, looking up at the stars, she began wondering...

So Xanadu has babies... how many? Do silver dragons mate for life?

That’d be a damn long time to be stuck with someone... though I suppose it also gives you all the time in the world to pick and choose till you find a perfect match...

She rolled over, and as sleep claimed her mind as well, she thought, partially aloud, Why would anyone want to capture dragons?



The next day the party was made good progress towards midday, and off in the distance the spines of the Balarac Mountains were easily in view, and perhaps only four more days away. Tess was busily trying to stay away from Pellaron, and the poor elf was feeling quite down. Siabrey was about to go try her “blunt magic” to try and raise his spirits, when she caught a glimpse of Lucius’ finger.

The ring the party had found in the Temple of Hextor had resembled a ring of elemental resistance, providing limited cover from fire, cold, electricity, sonic, and acid attacks. The party had mutually agreed that as everyone had seemingly found an item to use from the treasure trove that had been the High Priest’s trophy collection, Lucius should have the ring.

And the ring was now glowing.

”Um? Luke?” she rode up beside him and pointed at the ring. “Is it supposed to be glowing like that?” Flashbacks ran through her head of Lucius’ own eyes looking that color only days prior... Siabrey shuddered.

“No,” Lucius looked down at his hand, surprised the ring was glowing like it was. “It doesn’t hurt or anything... I hadn’t even noticed it.” He reached down and tried to pull it off, but it seemed fastened to his flesh.

“It... it won’t come off?” Siabrey asked nervously as Lucius pulled, and she felt sure he was going to pull a finger out of joint. There’s something in there thats bad... good rings let you take them off!

What if its deep magic, from the Abyss... its melding with his?! Think Siabry, think!

Oh God... I’m going to hate doing this... her mind quailed, but then decided it was the only option.

”Hon, I’ll chop it off!” she said, drawing her katana. Grumki can always heal the finger back on! Its nothing compared to losing all of you!

”Uh... I like my hands?” Lucius recoiled from Siabrey, who continued to circle him trying to find the proper angle.

“Luke! Something is wrong with that ring! I think its doing something bad to you, and I want to save all of you even if you have to lose a finger for five minutes until Grumki can heal it!” she said, attempting to command him into compliance. He recoiled further, as the party now gathered around the unusual chase.

“I’d prefer the sword to be the last resort!” Lucius called, ducking out of the way.

“Luke, PLEASE,” she said, her eyes starting to tear up in worry, “hold still! I want to help you!”

“I know,” he replied hastily, keeping the ringed hand on the far side of his body from her. “I just want a second opinion first...”

His statement was interrupted by a flash over the horizon, and the ground noticeably shaking underneath the feet of the party. Above the ridge ahead, a dark, heavy mound began to take shape, rising higher and higher until it revealed itself to the be back carapice of an enormous spider, black with red spots across its body, two enormous pincers hanging from the front in addition to its eight legs. Its head, unusually was more ant-shaped than squatly spider shaped, its eight eyes falling into a neat row of four on each side.

“BEBILITH!” Tess shouted, not having to search her memories hard to remember what this massive demon was. They were the stuff of legends... horrible legends. The White Emperor, high in the Mountains before the present Empire was even a thought, as said to have dug too deep and disturbed the races of the underground. They called upon a squad of these behemoths, which crushed his palace, and brought his mighty house to ruin.

“Baby-what?” Shaun shouted in confusion as he notched an arrow and let loose. The rest of the party quickly fired away as well, Tess launching a powerful volley of sonic darts, Lucius adding a fireball as Elenya added a lightning bolt of her own. While the creature raced ahead, straight towards Lucius at an ungodly clip, it fell 20 feet in front of the party, his husk allowing whisps of smoke to rise in the air, the smell of burnt flesh wafting through the desert.

“What the...” Shaun mumbled, as the ring on Lucius’ finger stopped glow. “Um... did his ring have something to do with that monstrosity coming over the ridge?”

“I think it did,” Lucius said quietly, as he tugged on the ring again. He saw Siabrey walk towards him, her sword still unsheathed, and immediately ducked behind the bard.

“Luke, dude, why you runnin’ from your girl?” Shaun asked confused.

“Luke, please!” Siabrey shouted, her voice nearing a panic as she realized what the ring did, “Hold out your hand... I don’t want anything to come over the ridge and kill you because of that ring!” Luke... please! It will hurt for a little, but Grumki will fix it! He can’t fix your dead corpse... and I would be devastated...

“Tess!” Lucius called, hoping for assistance, “is there a way to get rid of this without taking to amputations!?” He ducked skillfully behind Shaun again as Siabrey tried to dash around the rogue. She was looking tired of this chase, despite her deep set fear and worry.

Tess stepped between Siabrey and her erstwhile quarry. “Siabrey, thats twisted,” she pronounced firmly, and the fighter resheated her sword.

I never waved it at him... I never swung... I just want to protect him from harm! Siabrey’s mind screamed, and both Tess and Luke read the thought through her eyes.

“I know you want to make sure I’m ok,” Luke said, his voice calmer, “and if Tess doesn’t have an idea that works... I will readily agree to amputation. Until then, love, please forgive me for being human and wishing to avoid possibly unneccessary pain.”

Siabrey sighed, and nodded. I sure hope Tess can get that ring off...

Tess rummaged through the party’s bags, and gradually pulled out numerous pieces of scrap metal and wood. She took these, and wandered away from the party, humming to herself.

One thing my father and mother taught me besides bodyguarding was metalworking... crude metalworking, but metalworking. I know tools... tools that could snip through the ring possibly...

Tess set to work, instead of setting pieces together by hand with nails or screws, she sang them together. Her voice echoed quietly in the desert, and the pieces magically assembled themselves into a boltcutter her father and brother’s would have been proud of (minor creation).

“Thank you!” Lucius said breathlessly, giving Tess a large hug. His eyes then flitted over to Siabrey initially to bestow a look of, “I can’t believe what you were about to do!” His look of lecture faded before it even formed as he saw the clear, obvious relief in her eyes.

“I only wanted to make sure you were safe, love,” she nuzzled him gratefully. He hugged her back.

“I know, my dear,” he spoke into her head of hair, before pulling her back so he could look at her face. “Its just that I like my hands, love... and I wanted to see if I could save them.”

She smiles, and then gently scolded, “Love, you should have checked to make sure that ring was safe before donning it.” It was said in a tone of love, and she hoped he wouldn’t feel bad.

“I’m sorry... I thought it was ok. Pellaron said he thought it was a Ring of Elemental Protection... and he said it wasn’t evil.” Lucius then felt Siabrey’s grip on him loosen, as well as her body tense. He groaned, “Siabrey, please... he only tried his...”

The fighter didn’t hear the last sentence, as she stormed over towards the elf. “That ring was obviously evil, Pellaron,” her voice said politely, though dripping with anger. Her politeness faded, as she finally snapped, “A ring that calls demons! How could you let such evil touch Lucius!”

“I don’t know,” Pellaron said quietly, his face already red with shame, “Maybe it had magic covering its alignment that was far more powerful than my own... I’m... sorry,” he added at the end.

“Sorry? Sorry!?” Siabrey lit into him more. “Something that evil is something you are supposed to catch, Mister Paladin!” her voice snarled. You missing that thing called demons to attack Lucius! We almost lost him!

I almost lost him!

“After what we went through the last few days, I’d think a paladin of Hieroneous would have known what to look for!” Siabrey’s eyes met those of the paladin, and part of her was surprised to see his flaming back.

“I tried my best!” Pellaron finally snarled back, “I am not psychic, nor can I automatically tell what magic an item does! I can only tell you what I can detect myself! The device was covered with magic more powerful than mine, there was nothing... NOTHING I could do! I can only apologize and try to increase my abilities!”

“Well what if your best isn’t good enough!” Siabrey, now furious at his retort, snapped back at him. The paladin gave her a look of death, and mounted his horse before galloping off ahead. The rest of the party collectively began to breathe again after the debacle.

Siabrey watched Pellaron disappear over the ridge, and instantly remorse filled her bones. A sigh escaped her lips, and she looked at the ground in shame. Tess wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“C’mon, Siabrey... you need to apologize to him.”

“I know,” she said quietly. He did try his best... and I should not have risen to anger with him at that. “Its just... Lucius nearly was hurt, and I was protecting...”

“Sssh... I know,” Tess said quietly. “We all do. You were being protective... its just, he was too back at the Temple... its not his fault if it was something beyond his power to determine.”

“I know,” Siabrey said, finally looking up. “Can we find him... I have an apology to make.”

Tess and Siabrey mounted up, and followed the easy to find tracks of the paladin over the ridge. They saw his horse about a half-mile ahead, though initially they couldn’t see him. As they drew near, they saw a figure, clad in armor, kneeling in the dust of the desert wastes.

Tess reined up, and told Siabrey to go ahead. Gingerly, the fighter swung off her horse, and walked towards the kneeling figure. As she approached, she saw the elf had his sword planted in the ground, and was kneeling in front of it. She recognized in his quiet incantations and chants, a prayer of confession.

Hieroneous on high, thou guideth my blade
And clad me in thy mail
And despite thy goodness,
I have dishonored thee...

He’s asking forgiveness... but for what? Siabrey thought quietly. She waited a few moments, and when it became obvious he wasn’t going to break his prayer soon, she quietly knelt in the sand next to him, planting her own sword in the same way.

I suppose since I worship Hieroneous, I have some forgiveness to ask as well.

Lord Hieroneous on high,
You know I am not a frequent worshiper of you... but I do try to hold to your standards when it comes to life with my blade... and today I dishonored that, by dishonoring a comrade at arms. Please see it fit to convey to him my sorrow at my actions, that I may be able to apologize to him. Pellaron is a good man... please take care of him.

And please... watch over Lucius...

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and opened her eyes. Pellaron gently removed his hand, and cleared his throat.

“Siabrey, I must apologize for rising to anger. I shouldn’t have. You were upset about what happened, and I should have understood your anger was venting at the situation, not me... please for...”

”No,” Siabrey looked at Pellaron decisively, “it is I that should apologize to you... for losing my control and blaming you for something you couldn’t not stop. I shouldn’t have lost my temper as well.”

Pellaron nodded quietly, and said, “In my eyes, then, there is nothing for either of us to forgive. We both are cursed with sharp tempers, and a code of honor.” Siabrey smiled, and helped Pellaron to his feet.

“Good.”

“Ok... now that you two have kissed and made up I’m going back to the rest of the group!” they heard Tess call over the desert steppes...

 

[Lela]

Jeese, even interparty conflict has a unique ending in this group.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Unique how so? (drag n fly wants to know, but she's away from her computer)