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<blockquote data-quote="Sagiro" data-source="post: 4188172" data-attributes="member: 726"><p>This next installment was so long, it exceeded some kind of character limit for posting. I'm breaking it up int two parts.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 280a</strong></em></p><p><strong><em>Dreams, Deliveries, Disease and Doctrine </em></strong></p><p></p><p>Dranko’s new responsibilities aside, the Company has no clear agenda for the first time in its history. With no dire threats to the Kingdom or other Spire-related outings on which to embark, they mostly hang around the Greenhouse divvying up loot, laying in supplies for a magic-item-creation bonanza, and enjoying some much-deserved R&R. Nonetheless, they are about to experience an extraordinarily eventful three-month stretch.</p><p></p><p>Lucas Blackwell does call a brief meeting of the Undermen Small Council, allowing Dranko to meet his immediate underlings. Greta Smith is an immense woman, easily 6’4” and 250 pounds, with short hair and an open smile. She does sleight-of-hand tricks with coins while others talk. Gideon Hollow is an obnoxious and arrogant halfling who shows absolutely no respect for the Oracle’s position. Aaron Martel is a hulking, brooding man who says little, and if it’s true that a life-debt to Dranko has earned his undying loyalty, there’s no evidence of that during their meeting. Octavius Hightower is not in attendance but that is not unusual. </p><p></p><p>There is little business to discuss. The day-to-day operations of the Undermen proceed quite smoothly under Lucas’s guiding hand. The only items on the agenda are a local jeweler suspected of receiving smuggled goods from Forquelle without Guild involvement, and the ongoing surveillance of an independent cat-burglar. Dranko needs to say little, letting Lucas take the lead in discussions. Flicker remains entirely silent under some dire but unspecified threat from Dranko. </p><p></p><p>After the meeting, Lucas takes Dranko on a tour of the Manse, a regular warren beneath the city of Tal Hae. There are actually two ways in: one through Quince’s tailor shop, and another through the basement of an abandoned tenement. Both are heavily guarded every hour of the day.</p><p></p><p></p><p>* *</p><p></p><p></p><p>“God damn it!” Dranko yells. He has just woken up on the morning after his council meeting to discover that the itchy mystery rash is all over his face. Flicker and Grey Wolf have it as well. <em>Restoration</em> and <em>remove disease</em> are still efficacious, but ye Gods, it’s annoying! Among the Company only Kibi seems immune (as do Snokas and Yoba), but it’s the dwarf who has one of those face-smacking moments of insight about the affliction. </p><p></p><p>“You know,” he says over breakfast, “I could just cast <em>legend lore</em> on one of you. A disease that can’t be cured by magic seems important enough that the spell could work.”</p><p></p><p>There’s no reason not to try it. Kibi casts his spell, and ten minutes later a brief verse comes into his head.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Sienna"><em>Each agreed, and each knew well</em></span></p><p><span style="color: Sienna"><em>A bargain was made where the darkness fell</em></span></p><p><span style="color: Sienna"><em>Promises broken are vile things</em></span></p><p><span style="color: Sienna"><em>The Goddess heard, and woe she brings</em></span></p><p></p><p>There are groans all around the breakfast table. Shreen the Fair! The Company had sworn an oath on Dralla’s name that they would return the Crosser’s Maze to Shreen when they were done with it. The rash started to appear soon after Aravis had used the Maze to seal the rift between Abernia and Volpos at Verdshane. It appears that they are now suffering divine punishment for failing to fulfill their promise.</p><p></p><p>“I guess a visit to our old friend Shreen is in order,” says Aravis grimly. Whether or not he will (or even can) relinquish the Crosser’s Maze is not clear. Still, since the rash can be controlled by daily spells, the Company still plans to spend a few months crafting magic items before returning to Kivia and a showdown with Shreen.</p><p></p><p></p><p>* *</p><p></p><p></p><p>Four nights later, each member of the Company has an intensely vivid dream. It is the same dream for all of them, and what they dream is this:</p><p></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em>There is only blue. Above, the sky stretches clear, and below, the ocean lies calm like a sheet of cerulean glass. </em></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em></em></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em>On the surface of the sea there are ships, two sets of three, facing each other across a half-mile of calm water. The three ships facing west display the holy symbol of Posada, Kivian God of the Sea. The three ships facing east fly the flags of Charagan and of Brechen. </em></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em></em></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em>One of the ships under Brechen’s symbol is familiar; Makel Troutman is its captain.</em></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em></em></span></p><p><span style="color: RoyalBlue"><em>A whirlpool starts to form, slowly, its center exactly between the two groups of ships. Over time it expands, growing loud and vigorous and deep. The ships make no move to escape the vortex, and so inexorably they are sucked in; around and around they sweep, tilting ever more steeply as the whirlpool draws them into its heart. After a time made immeasurable by the nature of dreams the ships plummet downward and out of sight, into the depths of the Uncrossable Sea, their banners and crews lost forever, sacrifices sealing an accord between bitter Divine rivals.</em></span></p><p></p><p>The Company awakes, and they, like every citizen of Charagan and Kivia alike, understand instinctively what has changed. The Uncrossable Sea is uncrossable no more. Across both continents the implications are discussed for weeks – new possibilities opened for ship travel, trade, exploration and war. Dranko wastes little time in asking Lucas to start sending envoys via <em>teleport</em> to seek economic opportunity.</p><p></p><p></p><p>* *</p><p></p><p></p><p>Morningstar has been dreading the inevitable meeting with High Priestess Rhiavonne. It’s hard for her to guess what the High Priestess’s reaction will be to Morningstar’s account of the distant past – or indeed what she has already learned through <em>communes</em> – but the fate of the Illuminated Sisters is certainly at stake. And no matter what Rhiavonne might say, Morningstar will not abandon her calling as the Child of Light, especially with Octesian still at large. To better prepare for the confrontation with the matriarch of her church, Morningstar casts <em>commune</em> herself. The Avatar of Ell is with her.</p><p></p><p>Instead of opening with a question, Morningstar takes a moment to frame her inquiries.</p><p></p><p>“You warned us there was a need for some of us to withstand daylight. So far we have met the challenges before us. Politics have grown up around this issue like weeds, but the question remains: will the need for sisters who can walk strong in the daylight span for only a few years, or is this something we should institute for generations? The High Priestess fears that if we dilute our skills, and return to walking both in night and day, we will be unprepared for some great danger in the future. The Illuminated Sisters believe that your call to us was a signal that we should change our ways for more than just the immediate danger.</p><p></p><p>“Things have changed somewhat in my present and in my past. Is all that I have just spoken still the core of the issue?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YOUR POLITICS HAVE NOT CHANGED</strong></p><p></p><p>“The prophesies of the turtle and the great army showed me that sometimes all paths lead to some kind of danger. Is one of these ways of serving you better than the other?”</p><p></p><p><strong>SERVE ELL WITH YOUR HEART</strong></p><p></p><p>(Morningstar can't help grumbling a bit at this. <em>My heart isn’t the problem; it's what my mouth may do that I'm worried about.</em>)</p><p></p><p>“Will Ell be displeased or weakened if the Illuminated Sisters are cast out and form a separate temple?”</p><p></p><p><strong>NO</strong></p><p></p><p>“ If all Priestesses learn to withstand daylight, will it cause us to be unprepared for another danger in the future?”</p><p></p><p><strong>THAT FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN</strong></p><p></p><p>“If I ask the Illuminated Sisters to follow Rhiavonne’s demands, will we be less well prepared for future battles in the dreamscape and with Octesian – the battles that you warned me of when I fulfilled my promise for Mrs. Horn’s life?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YES, IF THEY LISTEN</strong></p><p></p><p>“Once Octesian is defeated is it likely that the need for a group Dreamwalkers who can withstand the daylight will be fulfilled for my generation?”</p><p></p><p><strong>LIKELY? YES. CERTAIN? NO.</strong></p><p></p><p>“I have no clear opinion on which practice is the best. My thought is to ask for compromise – to have some sisters in each temple serve as Daywalkers. After being accepted as priestesses and fully learning to operate at night, they would then train to withstand the day. They could work in shifts during the day so that the temple doors could remain open to callers. When not on a Daywalking shift the priestess would be awake at night with the rest of her sisters. The main body of the temple would be able to continue operating as before. The Illuminated Sisters could serve as the first Daywalkers at our various temples and train others.</p><p></p><p>“Would this change weaken or displease Ell?”</p><p></p><p><strong>NO</strong></p><p></p><p>“Is there a chance High Priestess Rhiavonne would accept a proposal like this?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YES</strong></p><p></p><p>“Have the plans to bring back the Emperor been aborted for the next three months?</p><p></p><p><strong>YES. YOU HAVE DONE WELL.</strong></p><p></p><p>“The Company has several interests to pursue in Kivia. Will our enemies in Charagan do significant harm here if we pursue our interests in Kivia next?”</p><p></p><p><strong>PROBABLY NOT</strong></p><p></p><p>“You warned me that Octesian will not forget me. Would it be to our best advantage to pursue him next?”</p><p></p><p><strong>PROBABLY NOT</strong></p><p></p><p>“You warned me a while back that there is a great evil hidden in Kynder Hold. Does this evil still remain?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YES</strong></p><p></p><p>“Is it time yet for us to pursue that evil?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YOU WOULD NOT SURVIVE</strong></p><p></p><p>“Is Parthol Runecarver the threat in Kynder Hold?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YES</strong></p><p></p><p>“Are Tarsos or Meledien threats that we will need to deal with?”</p><p></p><p><strong>YES</strong></p><p></p><p>“Should we try to rescue Rosetta or Cencerra before returning to Kivia?”</p><p></p><p><strong>NO</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>* *</p><p></p><p></p><p>A week and a half after that, while the Company eats breakfast at the Greenhouse, there is a loud knock on the front door. Eddings finds a messenger from the Ducal Palace standing outside, a rolled up carpet beneath one arm. </p><p></p><p>“Is this the residence of General Kay Windstorm and her associates?”</p><p></p><p>Eddings lets out a sigh; there has been no sign of Kay since her departure from Het Branoi. </p><p></p><p>“Yes,” he answers shortly. “Though the General is indisposed at the moment.”</p><p></p><p>“My orders stipulate that I may leave this delivery with her associates at the Greenhouse,” says the messenger. He hands over the rug, along with a note, and departs. Eddings brings the delivery inside.</p><p></p><p>Ernie nearly leaps out of his apron when he sees what has arrived. </p><p></p><p>“Burning Sky!” he exclaims. “How in Yondalla’s heaven did this find its way back here?”</p><p></p><p>The accompanying note explains: </p><p></p><p><em>To General Kay Windstorm and Company: </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>You’ll be happy to know that your carpet was a turning point in the final battles against the Delfirians. By extreme good luck, a Delfirian messenger using the carpet was shot down by a unit of Werthian archers who were stranded behind enemy lines. The messenger was carrying orders, and the Werthans smuggled these back to our command center. With knowledge of their strategies, many kingdom lives were saved in the subsequent battles. Word has reached me that the Delfirian flying rug had once belonged to you, a spoil of war from a previous battle. In gratitude for your allowance of continued deployment of the Yrimpan army, I now return this device to you. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Yours, General Largent Brown.</em></p><p></p><p>There is much rejoicing, especially among the Company’s halfling cooks. And, even better, it turns out that the reacquisition of Burning Sky isn’t even the coolest delivery the party gets that week. Two days later there is another knock on the Greenhouse door during lunch, which interrupts Flicker complaining that <em>he</em> didn’t get a key to the Undermen’s vault.</p><p></p><p>Eddings again opens the door, but isn’t sure what to make of what he sees in the street. The others come over at his request, and they behold what appears to be a hovering scarecrow with fly-wings. It’s holding a wooden box about three feet on a side. As the Company watches, a small twig emerges from the scarecrow’s head, and there are small pieces of paper affixed to the twig. It dangles the papers in front of its own eyes, seeming to stare at them for a few seconds. Then the whole thing dissolves into a pile of loose straw, the box landing with a thump in the street and the papers fluttering down after. </p><p></p><p>The papers, it turns out, have crude sketches of each of the Company on them. </p><p></p><p>Suspicion is high, and some in the Company note that the box is just the right size for a torso. Flicker makes a tasteless joke about Levec Oldbarrow. Neither the box nor its contents detect as magical. Ernie casts <em>augury</em> and learns that opening the box will bring “weal.” </p><p></p><p>Dranko pries open the container and discovers three things inside. One is a dark green book with a strange symbol on the cover. One is a chunk of rough white quartz about the size of a baseball. The third is an envelope with a wax seal bearing the same symbol as the book.</p><p></p><p>The inside of the crate was also lined with lead; the book and crystal now both radiate significant magic. Dranko tears open the envelope to find a letter written in a scratchy hand and an unfamiliar language. One <em>comprehend languages</em> later he is reading the letter to his friends.</p><p></p><p><em>“It seems you folks did okay, and more than okay. I’m enclosing a couple of old things from my storeroom, gifts in gratitude for freeing us multitudes from the web of Slices. Before you utter the command word for the lucent tower, stand well back, and don’t use it indoors! The commands are simple: “crystal rise,” and “crystal fall.” The book goes one page at a time, and anyone can use it. I’ve a feeling that folks in your line of work will find good uses for these things, more than an old retired wizard with his time nearly expired. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Sincerely, </em></p><p><em>Chiswick.</em></p><p></p><p>The book is one of “infinite” spells – Dranko flips the front cover and finds the first incantation is <em>shout</em>.</p><p></p><p>There is a bit of moist-eyed reminiscing about the old wizard Chiswick, encountered in the Eye of the Storm back in Het Branoi. He had been exceedingly old, and the timeless nature of the Slices had given him many extra years he had not expected to enjoy. But soon enough thought turns to the Lucent Tower, and Ernie takes the others on his newly-acquired carpet to an empty field outside the city walls.</p><p></p><p>Dranko tosses the chunk of quartz onto the ground, uttering “Crystal Rise.” It immediately starts to grow in the fashion of an expanding crystal, rising upward until, within a few seconds, it has formed into a pearlescent tower almost 30’ high and 20’ in diameter. It comes to a point at the top, just above four balconies set high up in the walls. Down at ground level a doorway appears. Dranko slowly pushes it open.</p><p></p><p>Inside the Lucent Tower it is cool. It also <em>looks</em> cool, an effect of the blue-white light that filters through the walls. The boots of the Company echo on the hard marble floor. The most notable feature of the Tower is its lack of features; the entire interior is one huge space. There are no stairs (or other means to reach the balconies), no furnishings, no objects at all, save for four wooden “handles” that sprout from the walls at the four compass points, about three feet off the ground. These handles don’t look <em>entirely</em> solid, as if they’re part substance and part illusion. Aravis reaches out and grasps one, discovering that it feels much the same – <em>almost</em> solid, but not quite. It doesn’t move at all.</p><p></p><p>Dranko grabs one and thinks about a chair on the floor next to him. Silently a chair appears matching the image in his mind. When he releases the handle, the chair remains. Aravis imagines a spiral marble staircase leading up to the balconies, and there it is. Both staircase and chair share the semi-physical nature of the handles, but are solid enough to bear human weight. </p><p></p><p>Ernie grabs a third handle and thinks: “fully equipped kitchen!” It appears off to the side. He realizes that his mental image of the kitchen was incomplete – it’s missing some shelves and a spice rack – but even as he realizes these things, they fill themselves in. Dranko grabs a wooden spoon and walks out of the Tower with it; it melts away to nothingness as he crosses the threshold. </p><p></p><p>He comes back in, grips a handle, and thinks: “big pile of treasure.” There it is: coins, jewels, gems, crowns, the works. He does the only sensible thing, and dives into the heap.</p><p></p><p>A bit more experimentation reveals the following: </p><p></p><p>- Semi-illusionary food can be created, and even eaten, but it vanishes from the throat when swallowed</p><p>- Only the person who activated the Lucent Tower can open and close the door</p><p>- It’s unwise to keep hold of the tower in closed form when activating it. </p><p></p><p>Dranko learns that last one by direct empirical testing, though his stellar reflexes and tumbling skills spare him any actual harm.</p><p></p><p>...to be continued</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sagiro, post: 4188172, member: 726"] This next installment was so long, it exceeded some kind of character limit for posting. I'm breaking it up int two parts. [I][b]Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 280a[/b][/I] [b][I]Dreams, Deliveries, Disease and Doctrine [/I][/b] Dranko’s new responsibilities aside, the Company has no clear agenda for the first time in its history. With no dire threats to the Kingdom or other Spire-related outings on which to embark, they mostly hang around the Greenhouse divvying up loot, laying in supplies for a magic-item-creation bonanza, and enjoying some much-deserved R&R. Nonetheless, they are about to experience an extraordinarily eventful three-month stretch. Lucas Blackwell does call a brief meeting of the Undermen Small Council, allowing Dranko to meet his immediate underlings. Greta Smith is an immense woman, easily 6’4” and 250 pounds, with short hair and an open smile. She does sleight-of-hand tricks with coins while others talk. Gideon Hollow is an obnoxious and arrogant halfling who shows absolutely no respect for the Oracle’s position. Aaron Martel is a hulking, brooding man who says little, and if it’s true that a life-debt to Dranko has earned his undying loyalty, there’s no evidence of that during their meeting. Octavius Hightower is not in attendance but that is not unusual. There is little business to discuss. The day-to-day operations of the Undermen proceed quite smoothly under Lucas’s guiding hand. The only items on the agenda are a local jeweler suspected of receiving smuggled goods from Forquelle without Guild involvement, and the ongoing surveillance of an independent cat-burglar. Dranko needs to say little, letting Lucas take the lead in discussions. Flicker remains entirely silent under some dire but unspecified threat from Dranko. After the meeting, Lucas takes Dranko on a tour of the Manse, a regular warren beneath the city of Tal Hae. There are actually two ways in: one through Quince’s tailor shop, and another through the basement of an abandoned tenement. Both are heavily guarded every hour of the day. * * “God damn it!” Dranko yells. He has just woken up on the morning after his council meeting to discover that the itchy mystery rash is all over his face. Flicker and Grey Wolf have it as well. [i]Restoration[/i] and [i]remove disease[/i] are still efficacious, but ye Gods, it’s annoying! Among the Company only Kibi seems immune (as do Snokas and Yoba), but it’s the dwarf who has one of those face-smacking moments of insight about the affliction. “You know,” he says over breakfast, “I could just cast [i]legend lore[/i] on one of you. A disease that can’t be cured by magic seems important enough that the spell could work.” There’s no reason not to try it. Kibi casts his spell, and ten minutes later a brief verse comes into his head. [COLOR=Sienna][i]Each agreed, and each knew well A bargain was made where the darkness fell Promises broken are vile things The Goddess heard, and woe she brings[/i][/COLOR] There are groans all around the breakfast table. Shreen the Fair! The Company had sworn an oath on Dralla’s name that they would return the Crosser’s Maze to Shreen when they were done with it. The rash started to appear soon after Aravis had used the Maze to seal the rift between Abernia and Volpos at Verdshane. It appears that they are now suffering divine punishment for failing to fulfill their promise. “I guess a visit to our old friend Shreen is in order,” says Aravis grimly. Whether or not he will (or even can) relinquish the Crosser’s Maze is not clear. Still, since the rash can be controlled by daily spells, the Company still plans to spend a few months crafting magic items before returning to Kivia and a showdown with Shreen. * * Four nights later, each member of the Company has an intensely vivid dream. It is the same dream for all of them, and what they dream is this: [COLOR=RoyalBlue][i]There is only blue. Above, the sky stretches clear, and below, the ocean lies calm like a sheet of cerulean glass. On the surface of the sea there are ships, two sets of three, facing each other across a half-mile of calm water. The three ships facing west display the holy symbol of Posada, Kivian God of the Sea. The three ships facing east fly the flags of Charagan and of Brechen. One of the ships under Brechen’s symbol is familiar; Makel Troutman is its captain. A whirlpool starts to form, slowly, its center exactly between the two groups of ships. Over time it expands, growing loud and vigorous and deep. The ships make no move to escape the vortex, and so inexorably they are sucked in; around and around they sweep, tilting ever more steeply as the whirlpool draws them into its heart. After a time made immeasurable by the nature of dreams the ships plummet downward and out of sight, into the depths of the Uncrossable Sea, their banners and crews lost forever, sacrifices sealing an accord between bitter Divine rivals.[/i][/COLOR] The Company awakes, and they, like every citizen of Charagan and Kivia alike, understand instinctively what has changed. The Uncrossable Sea is uncrossable no more. Across both continents the implications are discussed for weeks – new possibilities opened for ship travel, trade, exploration and war. Dranko wastes little time in asking Lucas to start sending envoys via [i]teleport[/i] to seek economic opportunity. * * Morningstar has been dreading the inevitable meeting with High Priestess Rhiavonne. It’s hard for her to guess what the High Priestess’s reaction will be to Morningstar’s account of the distant past – or indeed what she has already learned through [i]communes[/i] – but the fate of the Illuminated Sisters is certainly at stake. And no matter what Rhiavonne might say, Morningstar will not abandon her calling as the Child of Light, especially with Octesian still at large. To better prepare for the confrontation with the matriarch of her church, Morningstar casts [i]commune[/i] herself. The Avatar of Ell is with her. Instead of opening with a question, Morningstar takes a moment to frame her inquiries. “You warned us there was a need for some of us to withstand daylight. So far we have met the challenges before us. Politics have grown up around this issue like weeds, but the question remains: will the need for sisters who can walk strong in the daylight span for only a few years, or is this something we should institute for generations? The High Priestess fears that if we dilute our skills, and return to walking both in night and day, we will be unprepared for some great danger in the future. The Illuminated Sisters believe that your call to us was a signal that we should change our ways for more than just the immediate danger. “Things have changed somewhat in my present and in my past. Is all that I have just spoken still the core of the issue?” [b]YOUR POLITICS HAVE NOT CHANGED[/b] “The prophesies of the turtle and the great army showed me that sometimes all paths lead to some kind of danger. Is one of these ways of serving you better than the other?” [b]SERVE ELL WITH YOUR HEART[/b] (Morningstar can't help grumbling a bit at this. [i]My heart isn’t the problem; it's what my mouth may do that I'm worried about.[/i]) “Will Ell be displeased or weakened if the Illuminated Sisters are cast out and form a separate temple?” [b]NO[/b] “ If all Priestesses learn to withstand daylight, will it cause us to be unprepared for another danger in the future?” [b]THAT FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN[/b] “If I ask the Illuminated Sisters to follow Rhiavonne’s demands, will we be less well prepared for future battles in the dreamscape and with Octesian – the battles that you warned me of when I fulfilled my promise for Mrs. Horn’s life?” [b]YES, IF THEY LISTEN[/b] “Once Octesian is defeated is it likely that the need for a group Dreamwalkers who can withstand the daylight will be fulfilled for my generation?” [b]LIKELY? YES. CERTAIN? NO.[/b] “I have no clear opinion on which practice is the best. My thought is to ask for compromise – to have some sisters in each temple serve as Daywalkers. After being accepted as priestesses and fully learning to operate at night, they would then train to withstand the day. They could work in shifts during the day so that the temple doors could remain open to callers. When not on a Daywalking shift the priestess would be awake at night with the rest of her sisters. The main body of the temple would be able to continue operating as before. The Illuminated Sisters could serve as the first Daywalkers at our various temples and train others. “Would this change weaken or displease Ell?” [b]NO[/b] “Is there a chance High Priestess Rhiavonne would accept a proposal like this?” [b]YES[/b] “Have the plans to bring back the Emperor been aborted for the next three months? [b]YES. YOU HAVE DONE WELL.[/b] “The Company has several interests to pursue in Kivia. Will our enemies in Charagan do significant harm here if we pursue our interests in Kivia next?” [b]PROBABLY NOT[/b] “You warned me that Octesian will not forget me. Would it be to our best advantage to pursue him next?” [b]PROBABLY NOT[/b] “You warned me a while back that there is a great evil hidden in Kynder Hold. Does this evil still remain?” [b]YES[/b] “Is it time yet for us to pursue that evil?” [b]YOU WOULD NOT SURVIVE[/b] “Is Parthol Runecarver the threat in Kynder Hold?” [b]YES[/b] “Are Tarsos or Meledien threats that we will need to deal with?” [b]YES[/b] “Should we try to rescue Rosetta or Cencerra before returning to Kivia?” [b]NO[/b] * * A week and a half after that, while the Company eats breakfast at the Greenhouse, there is a loud knock on the front door. Eddings finds a messenger from the Ducal Palace standing outside, a rolled up carpet beneath one arm. “Is this the residence of General Kay Windstorm and her associates?” Eddings lets out a sigh; there has been no sign of Kay since her departure from Het Branoi. “Yes,” he answers shortly. “Though the General is indisposed at the moment.” “My orders stipulate that I may leave this delivery with her associates at the Greenhouse,” says the messenger. He hands over the rug, along with a note, and departs. Eddings brings the delivery inside. Ernie nearly leaps out of his apron when he sees what has arrived. “Burning Sky!” he exclaims. “How in Yondalla’s heaven did this find its way back here?” The accompanying note explains: [i]To General Kay Windstorm and Company: You’ll be happy to know that your carpet was a turning point in the final battles against the Delfirians. By extreme good luck, a Delfirian messenger using the carpet was shot down by a unit of Werthian archers who were stranded behind enemy lines. The messenger was carrying orders, and the Werthans smuggled these back to our command center. With knowledge of their strategies, many kingdom lives were saved in the subsequent battles. Word has reached me that the Delfirian flying rug had once belonged to you, a spoil of war from a previous battle. In gratitude for your allowance of continued deployment of the Yrimpan army, I now return this device to you. Yours, General Largent Brown.[/i] There is much rejoicing, especially among the Company’s halfling cooks. And, even better, it turns out that the reacquisition of Burning Sky isn’t even the coolest delivery the party gets that week. Two days later there is another knock on the Greenhouse door during lunch, which interrupts Flicker complaining that [i]he[/i] didn’t get a key to the Undermen’s vault. Eddings again opens the door, but isn’t sure what to make of what he sees in the street. The others come over at his request, and they behold what appears to be a hovering scarecrow with fly-wings. It’s holding a wooden box about three feet on a side. As the Company watches, a small twig emerges from the scarecrow’s head, and there are small pieces of paper affixed to the twig. It dangles the papers in front of its own eyes, seeming to stare at them for a few seconds. Then the whole thing dissolves into a pile of loose straw, the box landing with a thump in the street and the papers fluttering down after. The papers, it turns out, have crude sketches of each of the Company on them. Suspicion is high, and some in the Company note that the box is just the right size for a torso. Flicker makes a tasteless joke about Levec Oldbarrow. Neither the box nor its contents detect as magical. Ernie casts [i]augury[/i] and learns that opening the box will bring “weal.” Dranko pries open the container and discovers three things inside. One is a dark green book with a strange symbol on the cover. One is a chunk of rough white quartz about the size of a baseball. The third is an envelope with a wax seal bearing the same symbol as the book. The inside of the crate was also lined with lead; the book and crystal now both radiate significant magic. Dranko tears open the envelope to find a letter written in a scratchy hand and an unfamiliar language. One [i]comprehend languages[/i] later he is reading the letter to his friends. [i]“It seems you folks did okay, and more than okay. I’m enclosing a couple of old things from my storeroom, gifts in gratitude for freeing us multitudes from the web of Slices. Before you utter the command word for the lucent tower, stand well back, and don’t use it indoors! The commands are simple: “crystal rise,” and “crystal fall.” The book goes one page at a time, and anyone can use it. I’ve a feeling that folks in your line of work will find good uses for these things, more than an old retired wizard with his time nearly expired. Sincerely, Chiswick.[/i] The book is one of “infinite” spells – Dranko flips the front cover and finds the first incantation is [i]shout[/i]. There is a bit of moist-eyed reminiscing about the old wizard Chiswick, encountered in the Eye of the Storm back in Het Branoi. He had been exceedingly old, and the timeless nature of the Slices had given him many extra years he had not expected to enjoy. But soon enough thought turns to the Lucent Tower, and Ernie takes the others on his newly-acquired carpet to an empty field outside the city walls. Dranko tosses the chunk of quartz onto the ground, uttering “Crystal Rise.” It immediately starts to grow in the fashion of an expanding crystal, rising upward until, within a few seconds, it has formed into a pearlescent tower almost 30’ high and 20’ in diameter. It comes to a point at the top, just above four balconies set high up in the walls. Down at ground level a doorway appears. Dranko slowly pushes it open. Inside the Lucent Tower it is cool. It also [i]looks[/i] cool, an effect of the blue-white light that filters through the walls. The boots of the Company echo on the hard marble floor. The most notable feature of the Tower is its lack of features; the entire interior is one huge space. There are no stairs (or other means to reach the balconies), no furnishings, no objects at all, save for four wooden “handles” that sprout from the walls at the four compass points, about three feet off the ground. These handles don’t look [i]entirely[/i] solid, as if they’re part substance and part illusion. Aravis reaches out and grasps one, discovering that it feels much the same – [i]almost[/i] solid, but not quite. It doesn’t move at all. Dranko grabs one and thinks about a chair on the floor next to him. Silently a chair appears matching the image in his mind. When he releases the handle, the chair remains. Aravis imagines a spiral marble staircase leading up to the balconies, and there it is. Both staircase and chair share the semi-physical nature of the handles, but are solid enough to bear human weight. Ernie grabs a third handle and thinks: “fully equipped kitchen!” It appears off to the side. He realizes that his mental image of the kitchen was incomplete – it’s missing some shelves and a spice rack – but even as he realizes these things, they fill themselves in. Dranko grabs a wooden spoon and walks out of the Tower with it; it melts away to nothingness as he crosses the threshold. He comes back in, grips a handle, and thinks: “big pile of treasure.” There it is: coins, jewels, gems, crowns, the works. He does the only sensible thing, and dives into the heap. A bit more experimentation reveals the following: - Semi-illusionary food can be created, and even eaten, but it vanishes from the throat when swallowed - Only the person who activated the Lucent Tower can open and close the door - It’s unwise to keep hold of the tower in closed form when activating it. Dranko learns that last one by direct empirical testing, though his stellar reflexes and tumbling skills spare him any actual harm. ...to be continued [/QUOTE]
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Sagiro's Story Hour Returns (new thread started on 5/18/08)
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