Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Tales of the Legacy - Concluded
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Delemental" data-source="post: 2810080" data-attributes="member: 5203"><p>The trail was remarkably easy to follow; the path of an elephant through a dense forest wasn’t easy to hide. After studying the trail for a minute, Razael declared that they were no more than half an hour behind Hungai’s forces.</p><p></p><p> “They seem to be sticking together,” he said, “making their way almost due north toward the mountains.” He scratched at his head, sending bits of dirt tumbling out of his hair. “I would’ve split off a few folks in this situation, circled them around behind us to pin us down.”</p><p></p><p> “They may not have enough people left to do that,” Autumn said.</p><p></p><p> “And let’s consider that they’re not well-rested, and we are,” Arrie added.</p><p></p><p> “And the factor of having watched half their army get decimated,” Razael observed. “Good point.” He stood up. “I suggest we put on some speed. I’m not going to lose the trail, and right now we’re moving at the same speed. Unless we hustle, we’ll never catch them.”</p><p></p><p> The party remounted and rode off following Hungai’s forces. Slowly, they gained ground on the mercenary army. After about thirty minutes, they noticed that the trees were thinning out. From some distance away, they heard the sound of running water. They brought their mounts to a stop and secured them to trees, then proceeded on foot, spreading out slightly as they moved.</p><p></p><p> The trees gave way to a field of long grasses, gently sloping downward away from them. About fifty yards away, a large river flowed east, separating the forest from the more distant mountains marking the boundary between Medos and the Dwarven Confederates. A pair of shallow-bottomed ships were anchored at the closest shore, with ramps extending off their decks onto the riverbank. Hungai’s elephant was being carefully maneuvered onto one of the ships, while the remains of the soldiers that had laid siege to Stacks were boarding the other ship. Hungai himself could be seen on the ship where his elephant was being loaded, standing a full head over everyone else, shouting orders. On the shore, guarding their retreat, two units of five mounted samurai stood vigilantly, scanning the open field for any disturbance.</p><p></p><p> Arrie looked intently at the samurai. “These do not appear to be hin outriders,” she said mockingly.</p><p></p><p> A voice suddenly rang out behind and above the party. “Xu Dhii Ngao.”</p><p></p><p> Everyone turned to see a man perched in a pine tree behind them. He wore the garb of a Xhintai monk, though the colors and patterns of the fabric were different from those worn by Xu. The man had short, white hair, despite looking not much older than Xu herself. The man said a few words to Xu in Xhintai; she responded in kind.</p><p></p><p> “I hate it when they don’t speak Common,” Autumn complained.</p><p></p><p> “Well, technically, for them it is Common,” Kyle pointed out.</p><p></p><p> “Hey, when in Affon…” Lanara interjected.</p><p></p><p> Xu turned to her companions. “This man belongs to an order in opposition to my own. He has challenged me to a duel. I must accept.”</p><p></p><p> “What, now?” Autumn said.</p><p></p><p> “Yes. I will return.” With that, Xu and the other monk suddenly sprang off into the forest, leaping between trees and exchanging blows. They quickly moved out of sight.</p><p></p><p> The rest of the party looked at each other, perplexed. “Well,” said Kyle, “I guess we take care of Xu’s problem without her.”</p><p></p><p> “Oh, that’s nice,” Lanara snapped, “leave us to deal with the problem.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, Hungai did say something about ‘the pink-haired one’,” Kyle observed.</p><p></p><p> “And again, I’m right here,” Lanara responded.</p><p></p><p> “But he said something about ‘restoring the pink-haired one’.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, that would be nice,” Lanara admitted.</p><p></p><p> “So lets go find out about that,” Osborn said.</p><p></p><p> “Well then, let’s go sink those ships,” Autumn said.</p><p></p><p> “Well, I don’t have any ‘boat-sinking’ spells,” Kyle said. “Other than <em>fireball</em>, and I don’t think incinerating them is a good idea, especially before we find out what he knows about Lanara.”</p><p></p><p> “So, we have the obstacle of ships that we want to keep from moving,” Arrie said pensively. “How do we do that?”</p><p></p><p> “I say we just take out whatever pathetic defenses they have, and storm the ships,” Autumn said.</p><p></p><p> “What about throwing something big into the river to block them?” Arrie said.</p><p></p><p> Razael peered across the field. “Nothing we’ve got is big enough, and by the time we cut down a tree to do it, they’ll be long gone.”</p><p></p><p> “So, it’s a frontal assault, then?” Arrie sighed.</p><p></p><p> “Fine with me,” Razael said.</p><p></p><p> “Perhaps we should just let the rest of them go, and make sure Hungai stays,” Arrie said. “After all, we only have a quarrel with him.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, he’s already on the ship,” Autumn said, “and the only thing that’s going to get him off is Xu.”</p><p></p><p> “Unfortunately, she went off that way,” Maddie said, pointing back into the forest.</p><p></p><p> “But, Hungai doesn’t know that,” Arrie said. “All we need is someone who looks like her.” Arrie looked meaningfully at Lanara.</p><p></p><p> “I can do that,” she said. A moment of concentration later, Lanara looked remarkably like Xu. “Fortunately I can still use my Talent*.”</p><p></p><p> The disguised Lanara walked out into the field, well in sight of Hungai and his men. Osborn used his ring to turn invisible and stand next to Lanara for protection. Razael crawled out through the long grass, taking up a position flanking them.</p><p></p><p> “Hungai!” Lanara shouted at the ships, “You dishonorable dog! Will you not at give me the opportunity to free my spirit from the burden of your taint through open combat?”</p><p></p><p> Hungai looked out across the field. Then, with a loud belly laugh, he waved his samurai forward. They spurred their horses and began to gallop across the field toward Xu.</p><p></p><p> “Coward!” the fake Xu shouted at Hungai. “You fear to face a woman yourself?”</p><p></p><p> The party quickly prepared for battle. Kyle cast a few spells on himself, then, smiling, he slapped Autumn on the rear end. She turned to protest, but then the reflex-boosting spell he’d cast on her took hold, and she found herself too eager to leap into battle to properly chastise him.</p><p></p><p> “Ladies,” Kyle said, addressing Autumn and Arrie with mock formality, “would you be so kind as to deal with the left flank?”</p><p></p><p> “But of course,” Autumn said. “Arrie, care to join me?”</p><p></p><p> Arrie hefted one of her orcish shotputs. “Absolutely.”</p><p></p><p>As she waited for the samurai to draw closer, Autumn looked at her sister. She crouched in the bushes, eyes closed, slowly rotating her shotput in her hands. She seemed unusually calm and reserved, quietly waiting when one would have expected her to be chomping at the bit to get to the approaching horsemen. As Autumn wondered how Arrie could be so serene with the enemy approaching, when she herself was so edgy (<em>it must be Kyle’s spell</em>, she thought), Autumn realized that she had preparations of her own to make. She concentrated for a moment, and moments later a silver-furred wolverine appeared by her side, teeth bared in anticipation. Meanwhile, Kyle pointed a wand at the samurai on the right flank, and sent a bead of fire shooting across the field. It exploded in their midst, and sent men flying off horses that were suddenly flash-fried. They quickly regained their feet, and continued to march across the field, their armor still smoking.</p><p></p><p> “Persistent little buggers,” Razael said, as he drew back his bow and began shooting arrows into the lead samurai.</p><p></p><p> Autumn and her celestial companion charged out into the open, ready to meet their charge. She swung her greataxe as they rode by, converging in to strike at the sentinel and then spreading out again as they galloped by. When they passed, Autumn and the wolverine were covered with several large cuts, though one of the horses was also bleeding from a large wound. Arrie, surprisingly, did not charge out with her sister, but held fast, slowly rotating her shotput in her hands, waiting for the samurai to get closer.</p><p></p><p> Kyle launched another <em>fireball </em> at the samurai on the left flank, then turned his attention to the other side, sighing as he saw Autumn rush after the samurai who were wheeling around. Arrie was also emerging from her hiding place in the forest, aiming at one of the samurai on the end. As he considered what he could do to keep his love from being skewered, he heard Maddie chanting behind him, and a sudden blast of sound erupted amidst the enemy unit, sending several of them crashing to the ground and breaking their momentum. Autumn took advantage of the opening and charged one of the fallen samurai, while the wounded wolverine leapt upon one of the horses that was still standing, snarling and frothing as it attacked.</p><p></p><p> Across the field, Hungai shouted more orders, and suddenly a hound-like creature leapt over the railing of the ship and began running at high speed through the air toward the combat. The thin, black-furred canine had an almost human-like visage, though the mouth was filled with many sharp teeth. As the flying beast approached, both Kyle and Maddie recognized it as an extraplanetary creature known as a yeth hound. <em>But why is it here now?</em> Maddie wondered. <em>Yeth hounds only come out at night! What kind of trick is this?</em>**</p><p></p><p>But Maddie had little time to ponder this unusual event, as suddenly a creature appeared out of thin air and slashed at her with a wicked-looking glaive. The weapon bit deep into her shoulder, hitting a major artery and sending blood spraying into the nearby branches. The horned, winged, bearded creature wielding the glaive shrieked in triumph. Maddie staggered back, then gritted her teeth and summoned up divine power, ruching forward and striking the devil in the chest. The triumphant scream turned to one of pain, as most of its life-force was torn away by Erito’s power. The devil hissed, then noticed that Razael was also closing in fast, and a few of his arrows embedded themselves in its scaled skin; though its infernal metabolism allowed it to ignore the magical cold, it still felt the bite of the arrow. The yeth hound tried to leap at the tracker and bring him down, but the elf slipped out of its grasp. With a leer at Maddie, the devil growled something in Infernal and then vanished, deciding its bargain of service was not worth its life.</p><p></p><p> The invisible Osborn had been slowly moving around behind the samurai, and signaled to Kyle, whose enhanced vision allowed the wizard to see the hin. Osborn and Kyle peppered the samurai on the right flank; Kyle with <em>magic missiles</em> and Osborn with daggers. Osborn’s blades proved far more effective, and the five warriors were moving noticeably slower now. On the other side of the field, Arrie and Autumn were locked in desperate melee with the other unit of samurai. Glancing around to appraise the situation, Lanara vanished from where she was standing, reappearing near the samurai that Arrie and Autumn were fighting. Dropping the illusion that made her look like Xu, Lanara began singing, the notes of her bardic music drifting over the field.</p><p></p><p> Osborn waved and signaled at Kyle, telling him to launch another <em>fireball </em> at the group of samurai, which were now starting to converge on him. Kyle shook his head and signaled back; <em>you’re too close</em>. Scowling, Osborn repeated the ‘fireball’ signal more emphatically, as if to say <em>I don’t care! Do it anyway!</em> Fortunately, the dilemma was resolved, as the samurai paused in their advance, giving Osborn the chance to dive out of the way and giving Kyle the opening he needed to launch a third <em>fireball </em> from his wand, which caught the yeth hound in its radius as well. As the flames vanished, Osborn sent another flurry of daggers into the samurai, and three of them fell.</p><p></p><p> Maddie, still bleeding from the devil’s wounds, ran toward the left flank and cast a <em>mass lesser vigor</em> on herself, the Verahannen sisters, and the celestial wolverine. Meanwhile, Lanara casually wandered around the periphery of the battle between Arrie, Autumn, and the samurai, coming around to where a severely injured wolverine was still tearing at horseflesh and samurai flesh, and with a swift movement plunged her rapier into the creature’s side.</p><p></p><p> “What are you doing?” shrieked Autumn. The shout was enough to draw everyone’s attention, and they saw as Lanara flashed a wicked smile at Autumn as she continued to stab her celestial companion. Suddenly, everything clicked into place – Lanara had used a <em>dimension door</em>, when she claimed she had no magic. She was singing a bardic song, when she had claimed she could not use her music. And they noticed that the music had done nothing to inspire them; in fact, it was the enemy that seemed to fight harder and better now.</p><p></p><p> Lanara was now the enemy.</p><p></p><p> The wolverine, blind with rage, lashed out at Lanara, scoring her armor with its claws. The wolverine’s lunges at the bard gave her an opening, and her rapier slid between the animal’s shoulder blades. The wolverine vanished in a flash of white light. Autumn also attempted to get at Lanara, but her way was blocked. Lanara’s smile only broadened, and her song grew louder.</p><p></p><p> Suddenly, another song filled the air. The sound seemed to weave through Lanara’s song, flattening the notes and obscuring the words. Scowling, Lanara cut her now-useless song off mid-stanza, looking around for the source of the interference. Across the field, a figure in a heavy cloak stood watching the battle, its own song fading as Lanara ended hers.</p><p></p><p> “You stupid bitch,” Lanara muttered at the cloaked form.</p><p></p><p> At the same time, on the other side of the clearing, Xu and the other monk burst out of the forest. Their duel had been evenly matched to that point; while Xu was more maneuverable on the ground, the monks of the Verdant Path were at home in dense forests, and her opponent, who had introduced himself as Zhen Thao, was able to leap agilely from tree to tree to avoid her. The answer, of course, was to leave the forest. The two monks exchanged another series of blows, their ki flowing back and forth and nullifying each other’s special maneuvers. Suddenly, Zhen Thao stepped back, and bowed.</p><p></p><p> “We are of equal measure, and further conflict is pointless. We shall meet again, Xu Dhii Ngao.”</p><p></p><p> Xu returned the bow, and Zhen Thao ran quickly toward the ships, which had finished loading and was starting to cast off. Xu took a moment to study the scene, unsure of what had transpired since her duel had begun.</p><p></p><p> Autumn screamed and slammed her greataxe into a samurai, taking his head off. Arrie whipped her chain around and wounded another one. The lone mounted samurai wheeled around and began charging toward the cloaked figure. Autumn, desperate to get at Lanara, grudgingly broke off to give chase to the mounted warrior, not wanting to risk their mysterious benefactor.</p><p></p><p> Razael loaded a pair of arrows and shot the yeth hound, piercing its throat and causing it to vanish in a cloud of sulfurous smoke. He then turned and ran to catch up to the woman he was supposed to be protecting, who had moved to help Arrie and Autumn. Maddie did take the time to heal her wounds, which gave Razael some comfort. Osborn closed with the last two samurai on the right flank and attacked, getting past their flashing swords and burying daggers in their chests. With no enemies left on the right flank, Kyle turned and cast a spell toward the other side. Rubbery black tentacles erupted from the ground, enveloping the last two samurai and Lanara in a vice-like grip.</p><p></p><p> The cloaked figure yelped as the samurai charged her, slashing with his katana and drawing blood. In response, the mysterious figure vanished. Autumn, who was closing in on the samurai, saw the tall grass parting by itself in a trail away from the warrior, and surmised that their ally was now invisible. She returned her attention to the samurai, and with a swipe of her axe took out the horse’s legs. Osborn ran up to help, and within a few moments the two of them had hacked the lone samurai into tiny pieces.</p><p></p><p> Razael and Kyle looked around, and saw that all of their enemies were dead or incapacitated. Then they saw the ships had pulled away from the riverbank and were beginning to unfurl their sails. Razael fired a single arrow at Hungai, who was still on the deck; the arrow stuck in the mast a few inches from the warlord’s head. For his part, Kyle pulled out his metamagic rod and channeled a <em>scintillating sphere</em> through it, blasting the deck of Hungai’s ship with an electric firestorm. Soldiers and crew fell dead all around the large man, tumbling out of the rigging and dropping off the side into the river. Hungai stood unmoving in the midst of the spell, looking displeased, and as the remaining crew scrambled to keep the ship under control, he pulled Razael’s arrow out of the mast and crushed it between his fingers.</p><p></p><p> “And stay out!” Kyle shouted at the retreating ships.</p><p></p><p> “I wanted the elephant,” Razael grumbled.</p><p></p><p> As Hungai’s ships vanished around the bend of the river, the party converged on the field of tentacles, which were slowly crushing the last three opponents. Kyle ended the spell, and the party rushed forward to subdue their prisoners. The two samurai surrendered their weapons without struggle, and were docile as Arrie bound them to a nearby tree. Lanara struggled fiercely, and had to be held tightly by Autumn and Maddie. The cansin spat curses at everyone, until finally Xu tore a strip of cloth off one of the dead samurai’s clothes and gagged her.</p><p></p><p> A short distance away, the cloaked figure reappeared, and slowly walked toward the party. As the group watched, the figure pulled back the hood, revealing a very familiar face.</p><p></p><p> “Lanara?” Autumn and Osborn gasped.</p><p></p><p> “Yeah, it’s me,” Lanara said. “I’m claiming the right to loot her.” She pointed at the struggling cansin.</p><p></p><p> Lanara didn’t look much like the person they were used to. She looked like she hadn’t slept or eaten well in weeks, and instead of her trademark skin-tight leathers she was dressed in an old, baggy shirt and trousers, as well as the worn grey cloak.</p><p></p><p> Razael looked back and forth between the two pink-haired women. “Is some of the stuff she has yours?” he asked.</p><p></p><p> “All of it’s mine,” Lanara snapped. “And who in blazes are you?”</p><p></p><p> “Name’s Razael Fletcher, pleased to meet you.”</p><p></p><p> Lanara decided to wait a bit to sort that bit out. “Well, I think you’ve all met my sister. I’m the real deal.”</p><p></p><p> “Sister?” Kyle and Autumn said in unison.</p><p></p><p> “Yeah, evidently Dad forgot to mention one or two things,” Lanara said.</p><p></p><p> “And you thought our family was dysfunctional,” Arrie said to Autumn.</p><p></p><p>The sentinel looked levelly at her sister. “We are.”</p><p></p><p>“Her name’s Aranal, evidently,” Lanara continued. “Mom was terribly original, huh? Seems she took off with her when she left Dad and me. Don’t really know what happened to her after that, other than she fell in with Hungai at some point. Bitch.”</p><p></p><p>Aranal began to struggle more, trying to shout more profanity through the gag.</p><p></p><p>“Kyle, is there something you can do to keep her quiet?” Lanara asked.</p><p></p><p>“Sure.” Kyle walked up and clubbed Aranal in the back of the head with his staff, knocking her unconscious.</p><p></p><p>“Works for me,” Lanara said, and she quickly began stripping the unconscious Aranal of her possessions.</p><p></p><p>“Lanara, where have you been all this time?” Autumn asked.</p><p></p><p>“With them,” Lanara pointed out where Hungai’s ships had disappeared.</p><p></p><p>“How did you escape?”</p><p></p><p>“They were kind of busy,” Lanara said, “looking for Xu, trying to get everyone on the ship, avoiding arrows and spells. Then they had a mysterious outbreak of rats.” She smiled. “Plus I sweet-talked one of the guards.” She hooked a thumb in her baggy shirt and held it out. “<em>Tongues </em> comes in so handy,” she said, her grin widening into a mischievous smirk. “Huh, Kyle?”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, that’s the real Lanara,” Kyle said, “I can tell because I know no matter how I answer that, I end up looking bad.”</p><p></p><p>“So,” Razael said, “you’re the one that we thought that one was, that’s been traveling with us ever since I met you all.”</p><p></p><p>“You’re quick,” Lanara said, “and dirty.”</p><p></p><p>“You get used to it,” Osborn said.</p><p></p><p>“There’s only two or three layers on me right now,” Razael protested.</p><p></p><p>Lanara gestured, and instantly the dirt and grime covering the tracker fell away.</p><p></p><p>“Now, what’d you go and do that for?” Razael said.</p><p></p><p>“I wanted to see what you really look like,” Lanara replied casually. “If it bothers you, get more dirt.”</p><p></p><p>“It’s not like there’s a shortage,” Maddie said.</p><p></p><p>Lanara finished stripping her sister, and left her lying naked in the grass as she gathered up her belongings and walked into the woods. A few minutes later, she emerged, now dressed in her own clothes, and tossed her borrowed escape outfit onto the ground next to Aranal.</p><p></p><p>“She can have those, if someone would do me a favor and get her dressed.” She looked over at Razael, who was looking back and forth between Aranal and Lanara. “And don’t get any ideas.”</p><p></p><p>Maddie and Xu carried Aranal off to get her dressed and then tie her up. “Lanara,” Autumn asked, “What are we going to do with your evil twin?”</p><p></p><p>“Whatever you like,” Lanara replied. “I have all my things back, thank you. I have no family attachment to the woman, and she wasn’t terribly nice, especially during the ambush.”</p><p></p><p>“We should probably take all three prisoners back to Stacks for now,” Arrie said. “And I suggest we do it soon, or I’m going to get yelled at, a lot.”</p><p></p><p>“By whom?” Autumn asked.</p><p></p><p>“Herion. See, when we were in the city this morning, I sort of sent him a little message.” She held up her hand to show everyone the large diamond ring on her finger that Herion had given her when they were together in M’Dos. “The gist of it was, ‘In Stacks, about to start a war, will be in touch’. His response was, ‘wait there, I’m coming’.”</p><p></p><p>Autumn smiled. “I don’t think your husband will approve of the crown princess chasing off after the enemy army.”</p><p></p><p>“What of the dead?” Xu asked. “They fought and died with honor, and were not evil men, even if their master is. The custom in Xhintai is for fallen samurai to be buried with their weapons and armor.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s going to take a while,” Autumn said.</p><p></p><p>“In this case, a mass grave would be sufficient, if not entirely proper,” Xu said. “With the great fortune I have had today in once again avoiding Hungai’s grasp, I would not wish to ruin my karma by acting improperly.”</p><p></p><p>“Just to put in a word for Erito,” Maddie said, “I think that as the goddess of death, she’d want me to observe proper burial customs.”</p><p></p><p>“You sure?” Razael said, “some of that stuff looks valuable.”</p><p></p><p>“But is it worth the trouble?” Kyle said. “We don’t have to loot every corpse we run across, you know.”</p><p></p><p>“Why not?”</p><p></p><p>In the end, they voted and decided by a narrow margin to bury the dead samurai. The work went swiftly in the soft earth of the meadow, and they were able to return to Stacks before sunset. As the prisoners were led away by the town guard to the jail, the party gathered in the Dry Inkpot to celebrate Lanara’s return, and to fill her in on all that had transpired while she was gone. Lanara took the news that they planned to buy a ship and sail to the south pole rather hard, but a glass of wine or two helped ease the pain.</p><p></p><p>“I’m glad to have you back,” Kyle said. “Your sister was terribly grumpy.”</p><p></p><p>“And boozy,” Maddie added. “Lots of fun, though.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I’d imagine hanging out with you all would turn anyone to drink,” Lanara said with a wink. “I’m sure she was fun for you all, though.”</p><p></p><p>Razael suddenly turned a slight shade of pink, more noticeable now that the obscuring layers of dirt were gone. “What?” Lanara asked, “why in the world would you be embarrassed?”</p><p></p><p>“Nothing,” Razael said, too fast and without looking the bard in the eye.</p><p></p><p>Autumn’s eyes widened. “Razael, did you sleep with Aranal?”</p><p></p><p>“No, no, no! Well, maybe.”</p><p></p><p>Lanara looked at Razael. “We’ll have to talk sometime, you and I.”</p><p></p><p>“Razael’s recreational activities aside,” Arrie said, “we still need to decide what to do with Aranal.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, actually,” Razael said, “I did have one idea, which I think might work out well…”</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p> Aranal woke up slowly. Her head was pounding, and her mouth was dry. She looked around, unsure of where she was. She was indoors, and it felt like she was deep underground. She was lying with her head on a cold, granite desk, and all around her were stacks of papers. Two of the walls were comprised of drawers going from floor to ceiling.</p><p></p><p> <em>Qin-Chu’s toes! Where did that wench of a sister dump me off?</em> Aranal groaned as she sat up and took stock of her surroundings. Hungai had screwed up. What was he thinking, with that ‘I might restore the pink-haired one’ crap? Like that hadn’t given the whole thing away. She’d been forced to switch sides far too early. With the Ardaran gone, she’d had the rest fooled. The elven tracker hadn’t been much of a challenge to win over, and she was just about ready to make her next move, though she hadn’t decided whether to seduce the favored soul or the wizard next. She’d been leaning toward the wizard; she wanted to watch the sparks fly between him and the sentinel.</p><p></p><p> She stood up, and looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a simple brown robe, embroidered with dwarven runes. With her headache, it took her a minute to place the style. <em>What in the world? Why am I wearing these robes? These are robes for an acolyte of…</em></p><p> Her train of thought was interrupted when the door opened, and Tolly Nightsleaving walked in. The Ardaran was dressed in his usual plate armor, though it was brightly polished, and a adamantine symbol had been grafted to the breastplate. A large maul was strapped to his back.</p><p></p><p> “You are awake,” Tolly said. “Good. There is much to do. I suggest you get to work.”</p><p></p><p> “What are you talking about, Tolly? It’s me, Lanara. I was attacked…”</p><p></p><p> “Save it.” Tolly snapped. “I know who you are.” He crossed the room, and put a gauntleted hand on top of one of the stacks of paper. “Start with these, and then work your way around the room clockwise. A proper acolyte would be able to finish in two weeks, but I expect that with the adjustment you’ll need to make, it will take you longer.”</p><p></p><p> “What will take me longer?” Aranal sneered.</p><p></p><p> “Filing, of course. You’ll be given the morning to do that, and then in the afternoon I will need you to copy some documentation from the archives. Which will have to be filed later, of course.”</p><p></p><p> “Yeah, right. You can shove your documents up your ass, Ardaran.” Aranal walked toward the door, pushing her way past Tolly. But when she reached the door, she found she couldn’t open it. It wasn’t that it was locked; in fact the door was still open a crack. She simply couldn’t make herself push the door open to leave.</p><p></p><p> “Sit down, you naïve child,” Tolly reprimanded. Aranal found herself turning around and sitting, even though part of her mind screamed at her to stop.</p><p></p><p> “As I said before, I know who you are, and I know your nature,” Tolly said. “My former adventuring companions were certain to fill me in on the details. You, Miss Aranal Rahila, are currently <em>geased </em> to serve as my personal assistant. Let me assure you that the enchantment was placed by one of the Prelate Council, and will be renewed regularly. And the wording is very carefully chosen, so do not expect to find a loophole any time soon.”</p><p></p><p> “I have powers of my own, you know,” Aranal said, eyes blazing. “I can do the same to you if I want.”</p><p></p><p> Tolly spread his arms wide, as if opening himself to attack. “Please, feel free.”</p><p></p><p> Aranal opened her mouth, ready to sing an ensorcelling song that would soon have this upstart crawling on his knees begging to do whatever she asked. But the words wouldn’t come.</p><p></p><p> Tolly almost smiled. “As I said, very carefully chosen.”</p><p></p><p> Aranal’s look of smug confidence began to waver. “Why me? Why this?”</p><p></p><p> “Why you is because of what you tried to do to my friends. Why this is because I found it might be useful in my new position to have someone close at hand who knew the mind of Chaos.”</p><p></p><p> “I’ll find a way to get out,” she said, but it was only a whisper.</p><p></p><p> “Perhaps,” Tolly said, “but not before you finish my filing.”</p><p></p><p> Tolly turned to leave, but stopped and turned in the doorway. “Oh, and you’ll be pleased to know that I made good use of the stonebreaker acid you gave to me.” He pointed to the stone arch above the door. Etched there in the stone was a short phrase in Common.</p><p></p><p> ORDER IS ETERNAL.</p><p></p><p> “Good morning to you, Acolyte Rahila,” Tolly said. “I will see you this afternoon.”</p><p></p><p> Tolly closed the door to Aranal’s screams. She picked up the stack of papers on her desk, holding them up over her head as if she were about to throw them at the door after Tolly. But tears sprung from her eyes as she realized she couldn’t make herself throw the papers.</p><p></p><p> Because, part of her own mind told her, that would get them all out of order.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Delemental, post: 2810080, member: 5203"] The trail was remarkably easy to follow; the path of an elephant through a dense forest wasn’t easy to hide. After studying the trail for a minute, Razael declared that they were no more than half an hour behind Hungai’s forces. “They seem to be sticking together,” he said, “making their way almost due north toward the mountains.” He scratched at his head, sending bits of dirt tumbling out of his hair. “I would’ve split off a few folks in this situation, circled them around behind us to pin us down.” “They may not have enough people left to do that,” Autumn said. “And let’s consider that they’re not well-rested, and we are,” Arrie added. “And the factor of having watched half their army get decimated,” Razael observed. “Good point.” He stood up. “I suggest we put on some speed. I’m not going to lose the trail, and right now we’re moving at the same speed. Unless we hustle, we’ll never catch them.” The party remounted and rode off following Hungai’s forces. Slowly, they gained ground on the mercenary army. After about thirty minutes, they noticed that the trees were thinning out. From some distance away, they heard the sound of running water. They brought their mounts to a stop and secured them to trees, then proceeded on foot, spreading out slightly as they moved. The trees gave way to a field of long grasses, gently sloping downward away from them. About fifty yards away, a large river flowed east, separating the forest from the more distant mountains marking the boundary between Medos and the Dwarven Confederates. A pair of shallow-bottomed ships were anchored at the closest shore, with ramps extending off their decks onto the riverbank. Hungai’s elephant was being carefully maneuvered onto one of the ships, while the remains of the soldiers that had laid siege to Stacks were boarding the other ship. Hungai himself could be seen on the ship where his elephant was being loaded, standing a full head over everyone else, shouting orders. On the shore, guarding their retreat, two units of five mounted samurai stood vigilantly, scanning the open field for any disturbance. Arrie looked intently at the samurai. “These do not appear to be hin outriders,” she said mockingly. A voice suddenly rang out behind and above the party. “Xu Dhii Ngao.” Everyone turned to see a man perched in a pine tree behind them. He wore the garb of a Xhintai monk, though the colors and patterns of the fabric were different from those worn by Xu. The man had short, white hair, despite looking not much older than Xu herself. The man said a few words to Xu in Xhintai; she responded in kind. “I hate it when they don’t speak Common,” Autumn complained. “Well, technically, for them it is Common,” Kyle pointed out. “Hey, when in Affon…” Lanara interjected. Xu turned to her companions. “This man belongs to an order in opposition to my own. He has challenged me to a duel. I must accept.” “What, now?” Autumn said. “Yes. I will return.” With that, Xu and the other monk suddenly sprang off into the forest, leaping between trees and exchanging blows. They quickly moved out of sight. The rest of the party looked at each other, perplexed. “Well,” said Kyle, “I guess we take care of Xu’s problem without her.” “Oh, that’s nice,” Lanara snapped, “leave us to deal with the problem.” “Well, Hungai did say something about ‘the pink-haired one’,” Kyle observed. “And again, I’m right here,” Lanara responded. “But he said something about ‘restoring the pink-haired one’.” “Well, that would be nice,” Lanara admitted. “So lets go find out about that,” Osborn said. “Well then, let’s go sink those ships,” Autumn said. “Well, I don’t have any ‘boat-sinking’ spells,” Kyle said. “Other than [I]fireball[/I], and I don’t think incinerating them is a good idea, especially before we find out what he knows about Lanara.” “So, we have the obstacle of ships that we want to keep from moving,” Arrie said pensively. “How do we do that?” “I say we just take out whatever pathetic defenses they have, and storm the ships,” Autumn said. “What about throwing something big into the river to block them?” Arrie said. Razael peered across the field. “Nothing we’ve got is big enough, and by the time we cut down a tree to do it, they’ll be long gone.” “So, it’s a frontal assault, then?” Arrie sighed. “Fine with me,” Razael said. “Perhaps we should just let the rest of them go, and make sure Hungai stays,” Arrie said. “After all, we only have a quarrel with him.” “Well, he’s already on the ship,” Autumn said, “and the only thing that’s going to get him off is Xu.” “Unfortunately, she went off that way,” Maddie said, pointing back into the forest. “But, Hungai doesn’t know that,” Arrie said. “All we need is someone who looks like her.” Arrie looked meaningfully at Lanara. “I can do that,” she said. A moment of concentration later, Lanara looked remarkably like Xu. “Fortunately I can still use my Talent*.” The disguised Lanara walked out into the field, well in sight of Hungai and his men. Osborn used his ring to turn invisible and stand next to Lanara for protection. Razael crawled out through the long grass, taking up a position flanking them. “Hungai!” Lanara shouted at the ships, “You dishonorable dog! Will you not at give me the opportunity to free my spirit from the burden of your taint through open combat?” Hungai looked out across the field. Then, with a loud belly laugh, he waved his samurai forward. They spurred their horses and began to gallop across the field toward Xu. “Coward!” the fake Xu shouted at Hungai. “You fear to face a woman yourself?” The party quickly prepared for battle. Kyle cast a few spells on himself, then, smiling, he slapped Autumn on the rear end. She turned to protest, but then the reflex-boosting spell he’d cast on her took hold, and she found herself too eager to leap into battle to properly chastise him. “Ladies,” Kyle said, addressing Autumn and Arrie with mock formality, “would you be so kind as to deal with the left flank?” “But of course,” Autumn said. “Arrie, care to join me?” Arrie hefted one of her orcish shotputs. “Absolutely.” As she waited for the samurai to draw closer, Autumn looked at her sister. She crouched in the bushes, eyes closed, slowly rotating her shotput in her hands. She seemed unusually calm and reserved, quietly waiting when one would have expected her to be chomping at the bit to get to the approaching horsemen. As Autumn wondered how Arrie could be so serene with the enemy approaching, when she herself was so edgy ([I]it must be Kyle’s spell[/I], she thought), Autumn realized that she had preparations of her own to make. She concentrated for a moment, and moments later a silver-furred wolverine appeared by her side, teeth bared in anticipation. Meanwhile, Kyle pointed a wand at the samurai on the right flank, and sent a bead of fire shooting across the field. It exploded in their midst, and sent men flying off horses that were suddenly flash-fried. They quickly regained their feet, and continued to march across the field, their armor still smoking. “Persistent little buggers,” Razael said, as he drew back his bow and began shooting arrows into the lead samurai. Autumn and her celestial companion charged out into the open, ready to meet their charge. She swung her greataxe as they rode by, converging in to strike at the sentinel and then spreading out again as they galloped by. When they passed, Autumn and the wolverine were covered with several large cuts, though one of the horses was also bleeding from a large wound. Arrie, surprisingly, did not charge out with her sister, but held fast, slowly rotating her shotput in her hands, waiting for the samurai to get closer. Kyle launched another [I]fireball [/I] at the samurai on the left flank, then turned his attention to the other side, sighing as he saw Autumn rush after the samurai who were wheeling around. Arrie was also emerging from her hiding place in the forest, aiming at one of the samurai on the end. As he considered what he could do to keep his love from being skewered, he heard Maddie chanting behind him, and a sudden blast of sound erupted amidst the enemy unit, sending several of them crashing to the ground and breaking their momentum. Autumn took advantage of the opening and charged one of the fallen samurai, while the wounded wolverine leapt upon one of the horses that was still standing, snarling and frothing as it attacked. Across the field, Hungai shouted more orders, and suddenly a hound-like creature leapt over the railing of the ship and began running at high speed through the air toward the combat. The thin, black-furred canine had an almost human-like visage, though the mouth was filled with many sharp teeth. As the flying beast approached, both Kyle and Maddie recognized it as an extraplanetary creature known as a yeth hound. [I]But why is it here now?[/I] Maddie wondered. [I]Yeth hounds only come out at night! What kind of trick is this?[/I]** But Maddie had little time to ponder this unusual event, as suddenly a creature appeared out of thin air and slashed at her with a wicked-looking glaive. The weapon bit deep into her shoulder, hitting a major artery and sending blood spraying into the nearby branches. The horned, winged, bearded creature wielding the glaive shrieked in triumph. Maddie staggered back, then gritted her teeth and summoned up divine power, ruching forward and striking the devil in the chest. The triumphant scream turned to one of pain, as most of its life-force was torn away by Erito’s power. The devil hissed, then noticed that Razael was also closing in fast, and a few of his arrows embedded themselves in its scaled skin; though its infernal metabolism allowed it to ignore the magical cold, it still felt the bite of the arrow. The yeth hound tried to leap at the tracker and bring him down, but the elf slipped out of its grasp. With a leer at Maddie, the devil growled something in Infernal and then vanished, deciding its bargain of service was not worth its life. The invisible Osborn had been slowly moving around behind the samurai, and signaled to Kyle, whose enhanced vision allowed the wizard to see the hin. Osborn and Kyle peppered the samurai on the right flank; Kyle with [I]magic missiles[/I] and Osborn with daggers. Osborn’s blades proved far more effective, and the five warriors were moving noticeably slower now. On the other side of the field, Arrie and Autumn were locked in desperate melee with the other unit of samurai. Glancing around to appraise the situation, Lanara vanished from where she was standing, reappearing near the samurai that Arrie and Autumn were fighting. Dropping the illusion that made her look like Xu, Lanara began singing, the notes of her bardic music drifting over the field. Osborn waved and signaled at Kyle, telling him to launch another [I]fireball [/I] at the group of samurai, which were now starting to converge on him. Kyle shook his head and signaled back; [I]you’re too close[/I]. Scowling, Osborn repeated the ‘fireball’ signal more emphatically, as if to say [I]I don’t care! Do it anyway![/I] Fortunately, the dilemma was resolved, as the samurai paused in their advance, giving Osborn the chance to dive out of the way and giving Kyle the opening he needed to launch a third [I]fireball [/I] from his wand, which caught the yeth hound in its radius as well. As the flames vanished, Osborn sent another flurry of daggers into the samurai, and three of them fell. Maddie, still bleeding from the devil’s wounds, ran toward the left flank and cast a [I]mass lesser vigor[/I] on herself, the Verahannen sisters, and the celestial wolverine. Meanwhile, Lanara casually wandered around the periphery of the battle between Arrie, Autumn, and the samurai, coming around to where a severely injured wolverine was still tearing at horseflesh and samurai flesh, and with a swift movement plunged her rapier into the creature’s side. “What are you doing?” shrieked Autumn. The shout was enough to draw everyone’s attention, and they saw as Lanara flashed a wicked smile at Autumn as she continued to stab her celestial companion. Suddenly, everything clicked into place – Lanara had used a [I]dimension door[/I], when she claimed she had no magic. She was singing a bardic song, when she had claimed she could not use her music. And they noticed that the music had done nothing to inspire them; in fact, it was the enemy that seemed to fight harder and better now. Lanara was now the enemy. The wolverine, blind with rage, lashed out at Lanara, scoring her armor with its claws. The wolverine’s lunges at the bard gave her an opening, and her rapier slid between the animal’s shoulder blades. The wolverine vanished in a flash of white light. Autumn also attempted to get at Lanara, but her way was blocked. Lanara’s smile only broadened, and her song grew louder. Suddenly, another song filled the air. The sound seemed to weave through Lanara’s song, flattening the notes and obscuring the words. Scowling, Lanara cut her now-useless song off mid-stanza, looking around for the source of the interference. Across the field, a figure in a heavy cloak stood watching the battle, its own song fading as Lanara ended hers. “You stupid bitch,” Lanara muttered at the cloaked form. At the same time, on the other side of the clearing, Xu and the other monk burst out of the forest. Their duel had been evenly matched to that point; while Xu was more maneuverable on the ground, the monks of the Verdant Path were at home in dense forests, and her opponent, who had introduced himself as Zhen Thao, was able to leap agilely from tree to tree to avoid her. The answer, of course, was to leave the forest. The two monks exchanged another series of blows, their ki flowing back and forth and nullifying each other’s special maneuvers. Suddenly, Zhen Thao stepped back, and bowed. “We are of equal measure, and further conflict is pointless. We shall meet again, Xu Dhii Ngao.” Xu returned the bow, and Zhen Thao ran quickly toward the ships, which had finished loading and was starting to cast off. Xu took a moment to study the scene, unsure of what had transpired since her duel had begun. Autumn screamed and slammed her greataxe into a samurai, taking his head off. Arrie whipped her chain around and wounded another one. The lone mounted samurai wheeled around and began charging toward the cloaked figure. Autumn, desperate to get at Lanara, grudgingly broke off to give chase to the mounted warrior, not wanting to risk their mysterious benefactor. Razael loaded a pair of arrows and shot the yeth hound, piercing its throat and causing it to vanish in a cloud of sulfurous smoke. He then turned and ran to catch up to the woman he was supposed to be protecting, who had moved to help Arrie and Autumn. Maddie did take the time to heal her wounds, which gave Razael some comfort. Osborn closed with the last two samurai on the right flank and attacked, getting past their flashing swords and burying daggers in their chests. With no enemies left on the right flank, Kyle turned and cast a spell toward the other side. Rubbery black tentacles erupted from the ground, enveloping the last two samurai and Lanara in a vice-like grip. The cloaked figure yelped as the samurai charged her, slashing with his katana and drawing blood. In response, the mysterious figure vanished. Autumn, who was closing in on the samurai, saw the tall grass parting by itself in a trail away from the warrior, and surmised that their ally was now invisible. She returned her attention to the samurai, and with a swipe of her axe took out the horse’s legs. Osborn ran up to help, and within a few moments the two of them had hacked the lone samurai into tiny pieces. Razael and Kyle looked around, and saw that all of their enemies were dead or incapacitated. Then they saw the ships had pulled away from the riverbank and were beginning to unfurl their sails. Razael fired a single arrow at Hungai, who was still on the deck; the arrow stuck in the mast a few inches from the warlord’s head. For his part, Kyle pulled out his metamagic rod and channeled a [I]scintillating sphere[/I] through it, blasting the deck of Hungai’s ship with an electric firestorm. Soldiers and crew fell dead all around the large man, tumbling out of the rigging and dropping off the side into the river. Hungai stood unmoving in the midst of the spell, looking displeased, and as the remaining crew scrambled to keep the ship under control, he pulled Razael’s arrow out of the mast and crushed it between his fingers. “And stay out!” Kyle shouted at the retreating ships. “I wanted the elephant,” Razael grumbled. As Hungai’s ships vanished around the bend of the river, the party converged on the field of tentacles, which were slowly crushing the last three opponents. Kyle ended the spell, and the party rushed forward to subdue their prisoners. The two samurai surrendered their weapons without struggle, and were docile as Arrie bound them to a nearby tree. Lanara struggled fiercely, and had to be held tightly by Autumn and Maddie. The cansin spat curses at everyone, until finally Xu tore a strip of cloth off one of the dead samurai’s clothes and gagged her. A short distance away, the cloaked figure reappeared, and slowly walked toward the party. As the group watched, the figure pulled back the hood, revealing a very familiar face. “Lanara?” Autumn and Osborn gasped. “Yeah, it’s me,” Lanara said. “I’m claiming the right to loot her.” She pointed at the struggling cansin. Lanara didn’t look much like the person they were used to. She looked like she hadn’t slept or eaten well in weeks, and instead of her trademark skin-tight leathers she was dressed in an old, baggy shirt and trousers, as well as the worn grey cloak. Razael looked back and forth between the two pink-haired women. “Is some of the stuff she has yours?” he asked. “All of it’s mine,” Lanara snapped. “And who in blazes are you?” “Name’s Razael Fletcher, pleased to meet you.” Lanara decided to wait a bit to sort that bit out. “Well, I think you’ve all met my sister. I’m the real deal.” “Sister?” Kyle and Autumn said in unison. “Yeah, evidently Dad forgot to mention one or two things,” Lanara said. “And you thought our family was dysfunctional,” Arrie said to Autumn. The sentinel looked levelly at her sister. “We are.” “Her name’s Aranal, evidently,” Lanara continued. “Mom was terribly original, huh? Seems she took off with her when she left Dad and me. Don’t really know what happened to her after that, other than she fell in with Hungai at some point. Bitch.” Aranal began to struggle more, trying to shout more profanity through the gag. “Kyle, is there something you can do to keep her quiet?” Lanara asked. “Sure.” Kyle walked up and clubbed Aranal in the back of the head with his staff, knocking her unconscious. “Works for me,” Lanara said, and she quickly began stripping the unconscious Aranal of her possessions. “Lanara, where have you been all this time?” Autumn asked. “With them,” Lanara pointed out where Hungai’s ships had disappeared. “How did you escape?” “They were kind of busy,” Lanara said, “looking for Xu, trying to get everyone on the ship, avoiding arrows and spells. Then they had a mysterious outbreak of rats.” She smiled. “Plus I sweet-talked one of the guards.” She hooked a thumb in her baggy shirt and held it out. “[I]Tongues [/I] comes in so handy,” she said, her grin widening into a mischievous smirk. “Huh, Kyle?” “Yeah, that’s the real Lanara,” Kyle said, “I can tell because I know no matter how I answer that, I end up looking bad.” “So,” Razael said, “you’re the one that we thought that one was, that’s been traveling with us ever since I met you all.” “You’re quick,” Lanara said, “and dirty.” “You get used to it,” Osborn said. “There’s only two or three layers on me right now,” Razael protested. Lanara gestured, and instantly the dirt and grime covering the tracker fell away. “Now, what’d you go and do that for?” Razael said. “I wanted to see what you really look like,” Lanara replied casually. “If it bothers you, get more dirt.” “It’s not like there’s a shortage,” Maddie said. Lanara finished stripping her sister, and left her lying naked in the grass as she gathered up her belongings and walked into the woods. A few minutes later, she emerged, now dressed in her own clothes, and tossed her borrowed escape outfit onto the ground next to Aranal. “She can have those, if someone would do me a favor and get her dressed.” She looked over at Razael, who was looking back and forth between Aranal and Lanara. “And don’t get any ideas.” Maddie and Xu carried Aranal off to get her dressed and then tie her up. “Lanara,” Autumn asked, “What are we going to do with your evil twin?” “Whatever you like,” Lanara replied. “I have all my things back, thank you. I have no family attachment to the woman, and she wasn’t terribly nice, especially during the ambush.” “We should probably take all three prisoners back to Stacks for now,” Arrie said. “And I suggest we do it soon, or I’m going to get yelled at, a lot.” “By whom?” Autumn asked. “Herion. See, when we were in the city this morning, I sort of sent him a little message.” She held up her hand to show everyone the large diamond ring on her finger that Herion had given her when they were together in M’Dos. “The gist of it was, ‘In Stacks, about to start a war, will be in touch’. His response was, ‘wait there, I’m coming’.” Autumn smiled. “I don’t think your husband will approve of the crown princess chasing off after the enemy army.” “What of the dead?” Xu asked. “They fought and died with honor, and were not evil men, even if their master is. The custom in Xhintai is for fallen samurai to be buried with their weapons and armor.” “That’s going to take a while,” Autumn said. “In this case, a mass grave would be sufficient, if not entirely proper,” Xu said. “With the great fortune I have had today in once again avoiding Hungai’s grasp, I would not wish to ruin my karma by acting improperly.” “Just to put in a word for Erito,” Maddie said, “I think that as the goddess of death, she’d want me to observe proper burial customs.” “You sure?” Razael said, “some of that stuff looks valuable.” “But is it worth the trouble?” Kyle said. “We don’t have to loot every corpse we run across, you know.” “Why not?” In the end, they voted and decided by a narrow margin to bury the dead samurai. The work went swiftly in the soft earth of the meadow, and they were able to return to Stacks before sunset. As the prisoners were led away by the town guard to the jail, the party gathered in the Dry Inkpot to celebrate Lanara’s return, and to fill her in on all that had transpired while she was gone. Lanara took the news that they planned to buy a ship and sail to the south pole rather hard, but a glass of wine or two helped ease the pain. “I’m glad to have you back,” Kyle said. “Your sister was terribly grumpy.” “And boozy,” Maddie added. “Lots of fun, though.” “Well, I’d imagine hanging out with you all would turn anyone to drink,” Lanara said with a wink. “I’m sure she was fun for you all, though.” Razael suddenly turned a slight shade of pink, more noticeable now that the obscuring layers of dirt were gone. “What?” Lanara asked, “why in the world would you be embarrassed?” “Nothing,” Razael said, too fast and without looking the bard in the eye. Autumn’s eyes widened. “Razael, did you sleep with Aranal?” “No, no, no! Well, maybe.” Lanara looked at Razael. “We’ll have to talk sometime, you and I.” “Razael’s recreational activities aside,” Arrie said, “we still need to decide what to do with Aranal.” “Well, actually,” Razael said, “I did have one idea, which I think might work out well…” [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] Aranal woke up slowly. Her head was pounding, and her mouth was dry. She looked around, unsure of where she was. She was indoors, and it felt like she was deep underground. She was lying with her head on a cold, granite desk, and all around her were stacks of papers. Two of the walls were comprised of drawers going from floor to ceiling. [I]Qin-Chu’s toes! Where did that wench of a sister dump me off?[/I] Aranal groaned as she sat up and took stock of her surroundings. Hungai had screwed up. What was he thinking, with that ‘I might restore the pink-haired one’ crap? Like that hadn’t given the whole thing away. She’d been forced to switch sides far too early. With the Ardaran gone, she’d had the rest fooled. The elven tracker hadn’t been much of a challenge to win over, and she was just about ready to make her next move, though she hadn’t decided whether to seduce the favored soul or the wizard next. She’d been leaning toward the wizard; she wanted to watch the sparks fly between him and the sentinel. She stood up, and looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a simple brown robe, embroidered with dwarven runes. With her headache, it took her a minute to place the style. [I]What in the world? Why am I wearing these robes? These are robes for an acolyte of…[/I] Her train of thought was interrupted when the door opened, and Tolly Nightsleaving walked in. The Ardaran was dressed in his usual plate armor, though it was brightly polished, and a adamantine symbol had been grafted to the breastplate. A large maul was strapped to his back. “You are awake,” Tolly said. “Good. There is much to do. I suggest you get to work.” “What are you talking about, Tolly? It’s me, Lanara. I was attacked…” “Save it.” Tolly snapped. “I know who you are.” He crossed the room, and put a gauntleted hand on top of one of the stacks of paper. “Start with these, and then work your way around the room clockwise. A proper acolyte would be able to finish in two weeks, but I expect that with the adjustment you’ll need to make, it will take you longer.” “What will take me longer?” Aranal sneered. “Filing, of course. You’ll be given the morning to do that, and then in the afternoon I will need you to copy some documentation from the archives. Which will have to be filed later, of course.” “Yeah, right. You can shove your documents up your ass, Ardaran.” Aranal walked toward the door, pushing her way past Tolly. But when she reached the door, she found she couldn’t open it. It wasn’t that it was locked; in fact the door was still open a crack. She simply couldn’t make herself push the door open to leave. “Sit down, you naïve child,” Tolly reprimanded. Aranal found herself turning around and sitting, even though part of her mind screamed at her to stop. “As I said before, I know who you are, and I know your nature,” Tolly said. “My former adventuring companions were certain to fill me in on the details. You, Miss Aranal Rahila, are currently [I]geased [/I] to serve as my personal assistant. Let me assure you that the enchantment was placed by one of the Prelate Council, and will be renewed regularly. And the wording is very carefully chosen, so do not expect to find a loophole any time soon.” “I have powers of my own, you know,” Aranal said, eyes blazing. “I can do the same to you if I want.” Tolly spread his arms wide, as if opening himself to attack. “Please, feel free.” Aranal opened her mouth, ready to sing an ensorcelling song that would soon have this upstart crawling on his knees begging to do whatever she asked. But the words wouldn’t come. Tolly almost smiled. “As I said, very carefully chosen.” Aranal’s look of smug confidence began to waver. “Why me? Why this?” “Why you is because of what you tried to do to my friends. Why this is because I found it might be useful in my new position to have someone close at hand who knew the mind of Chaos.” “I’ll find a way to get out,” she said, but it was only a whisper. “Perhaps,” Tolly said, “but not before you finish my filing.” Tolly turned to leave, but stopped and turned in the doorway. “Oh, and you’ll be pleased to know that I made good use of the stonebreaker acid you gave to me.” He pointed to the stone arch above the door. Etched there in the stone was a short phrase in Common. ORDER IS ETERNAL. “Good morning to you, Acolyte Rahila,” Tolly said. “I will see you this afternoon.” Tolly closed the door to Aranal’s screams. She picked up the stack of papers on her desk, holding them up over her head as if she were about to throw them at the door after Tolly. But tears sprung from her eyes as she realized she couldn’t make herself throw the papers. Because, part of her own mind told her, that would get them all out of order. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Tales of the Legacy - Concluded
Top