Night of the Living Dead
As the eve of our dinner with Madu el Barake approached, it was difficult to persuade Rock to set aside his repairs on the temple of Elishar. I was obliged to be most persuasive to convince him that he should return to Lathanul's temple with the rest of our friends to prepare for the evening. In some respects people are not vastly different from horses: it requires patience and a bit of cleverness to lead them in the direction one desires.
We were transported by carriage to the residence of Madu el Barake as evening fell. As we had been told, Madu is a man of immense wealth and prestige. His home is more nearly a palace than a house. It is far more impressive than any other structure I have seen, even outshining the governor's palace in Ankhapur.
On our approach to the entrance, my friend drew my attention to a group of citizens gathering near another gate in the mansion's low wall. This group appeared to represent more of the insignificant portion of Calimport's population that is not Men, and also seemed to made up mostly of folk of meager means. We could not see from our vantage why they were gathering at that location.
On giving our names to a servant who greeted us, we were conducted to a waiting room to meet our host. Nekaya had expressed a feeling of foreboding before we departed for our appointment, and as a result we had not arrived unarmed. The servant did not ask us to set aside our weapons. Only Nekaya requested that her hakra be held aside, as it is an unwieldly blade. I bore my swords, though I had elected to wear only my enchanted bracers for protection, out of both deference to the occasion and consideration for the heat.
Our host proved to be a well-proportioned man of middle years as best I can judge the years of Men. He greeted us with great courtesy and introduced us to three other guests who would also be dining with him. These were Guyan Duus, a captain of the army, the widow Sarrima, and Pel Gorrin, an administrator in charge of the construction of roads. It occurred to me that none of these guests were of the same social class as their host, though it seemed by their behavior that all three had been guests of Madu previously and were well acquainted with him.
I noticed with interest that when we gave our names to our host Rock introduced himself by his true dwarven name rather than by the nickname he has adopted, though he had given his nickname to the servant at the entrance. He has taken to appending to himself the title Outwarden of Camber. I wonder if my friend will return there when our quest is concluded.
Before we proceeded to dinner Madu introduced two further guests, brothers Mohham and Chal. It was apparent that they had not previously been his guests. Both men looked to be of the sort who might have been waiting at the rear gate when we arrived. They had put on their best attire but their poverty was readily evident, and they were obviously ill at ease in such lavish surroundings.
When we were conducted into the dining hall we met a last dinner companion, Korah, who was presented to us as Madu's close friend and chief adviser. I began to suspect that our host had some hidden but altruistic motive for his selection of guests when he seated the widow Sarrima next to the unmarried Captain Duus.
Our dinner proceeded with pleasant small talk as we were served with a variety of dishes. The food was of quality but far less rich than what we had dined upon in the home of Remmao al-Ka.
As the dinner continued we and learned more of our dinner companions and explained our own arrival in Calimport, I realized that Osaze Mumbai was not going to be present. Liadan was obviously awaiting an opportunity to remark on this. At last Rock leaned over to murmur something to her and she spoke up, asking our host if we would have an opportunity to meet the respected holy man.
Madu explained that at present Osaze was not in residence and was not expected to return for some time. In fact, the holy man was on a quest to the palace of a powerful djinn, seeking to turn the ancient and evil being to the path of Good. I had already been impressed by what I had heard of Osaze Mumbai, but now my admiration grew greatly and I truly regretted that I could not meet him.
Liadan and Nekaya then explained what we seek regarding Covenant's quest, though without giving away too many intimate details. Liadan did explain that Covenant is her father, which did not appear to surprise Madu. He asked if all of us had some relationship to Covenant, and we each explained our reason for being on our own quest. When I mentioned my wife he indicated that he has met her, which I found curiously satisfying.
Madu told us that he in fact had the journal Liadan sought in his possession, but that only Osaze could gain access to it. He then remarked that he had something he would like to show us after dinner. When the meal concluded we courteously took our leave of the other guests. Rock then also made his departure, wishing to return to the temple of Elishar and continue his work. He has long worn an enchanted ring that allows him to work without rest and he sought to take advantage of this.
Madu conducted us to a gallery on an upper floor where he displayed many portraits. We passed a large chamber filled with unusual items from distant lands. Madu's mansion contains far less ostentatious display of wealth than the home of Remmao al-Ka, for Madu has chosen to display his wealth in the form of fine artisanship from exotic locales rather than in precious metals and jewels. It was not until we saw this display that I realized my own homeland in the Hidden Hills would be considered an exotic location by most of the folk I have encountered in my travels. Even my host did not know the direction in which Evereska lies when I mentioned my birthplace.
Our progress through the gallery came to a stop before a large painting of a vast black dragon. During our conversation over dinner, Madu had explained that he knew much of Covenant's purpose in contacting the dragon. He had also confirmed Nekaya's suspicion that the dragon and the duke of Hell who had taken the Gauntlet of Dawn were one and the same. According to Madu's tale, the duke of Hell had sought a new life as a dragon. This same dragon, Ssurathrax, was portrayed in the painting we now viewed.
At the feet of the painted dragon sat a tiny figure of a man. This, said our host, was Osaze Mumbai. Much as he now attempted to convert a djinn to the path of righteousness, he had once done the same with the black dragon. Covenant had heard of Osaze's great quest and had gone to seek him out. Together they had struggled long with the dragon, though whether by words or might of arms I am uncertain. In the end it seems that though they may not have convinced the dragon to follow the way of Good, they had persuaded him to abandone true Evil.
This tale left Nekaya perplexed, for she still holds the dragon responsible for whatever fate has befallen Covenant's company. I remarked that perhaps the dragon should not be blamed. It seems that many forces have ranged themselves against the completion of Covenant's quest.
As we viewed the painting and the other items displayed in the gallery, we were suddenly disturbed by the arrival of two servants. This would not have been remarkable but that they both appeared to be ill. Liadan exclaimed that they were not living at all but had been turned to foul undeath! I rushed forward to defend against them, but before my blades could strike Liadan had summoned Lathander's righteous hatred of undead to end their repellent semblance of life. As they fell a sinister dark energy exuded from their bodies.
Liadan examined the corpses and found that one of them had been pierced by a poisoned dart. She called out a warning to our companions. Then Nekaya cried out that more such unliving zombies had appeared in the display chamber, and Liadan hurried to the paladin's side. I remained where I was to guard against further intrusion.
As I stood watching over the fallen servants, I felt a sting followed by a burning sensation at my throat. When I put my hand to my neck my fingertips came away bloodied. Then I caught a glimspe of a strange hunched creature with a long face and a coarse mane, holding a wooden tube in its clawed hands. This creature faded from sight before I could react. Alarms began to sound throughout the mansion. A terrible feral howling filled me with dread.
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Quips & Quotes:
Devo: "The prophecy makes a vaguely coherent sentence."
Jubilee: "So it sounds like you!"
Zora: "I got dizzy for a second."
Devo: "I hope it wasn't my GMing. That's usually nauseating."
Hedrin: "Pakkin brought a bow to dinner?!"
Zora: "No wonder he was quivering."