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The Mother of Dreams - Episode 5 (updated February 1st, 2005)
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1835776" data-attributes="member: 63"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Episode Four: My Hero, Section IV</strong></span></p><p></p><p>“Ugh.”</p><p></p><p>Babb sat upright, splashing the seawater around him. That confused him. He did not remember falling asleep.</p><p></p><p>Something tugged at his memory, a nightmare of mist and screams, but now the sun was rising, gray and shadowed, reflecting off the waves.</p><p></p><p>Why was he sitting in the ocean?</p><p></p><p>Eroded stone pillars and the remains of an old wooden dock surrounded him, pushing up out of the surf. Even sitting the water did not reach his belly, except when a wave splashed over him. He was not wearing his armor, and a water-breathing amulet was around his neck. Behind him was the Chapel of Meliska, and he thought he remembered going there last night, before, or maybe after, the others went for the sunken temple. The sun was rising now, so where were they?</p><p></p><p>And why was he sitting in the ocean?</p><p></p><p>A restrained voice said, “The sun rises, yet the others have not returned. It is good that you reconsidered following them.”</p><p></p><p>Babb looked to Seekan, walking through the surf toward him, the hem of his robes turning wet as he left the beach. Something felt wrong. Babb did not remember seeing him there a moment earlier.</p><p></p><p>“Um, yeah,” Babb said, shaking his head and standing. “Do you feel strange or anything?”</p><p></p><p>Seekan barely shrugged.</p><p></p><p>A distant splash sounded out to sea, and Babb saw Lacy’s head cast a long shadow over the water as it emerged from the waves. She kicked so her entire head and shoulders were above water, and then waved to him. Her shoulders were mostly bare, and Babb felt uncomfortable anger that she had worn the silly outfit. He wished he could remember when they had actually left, though. His memory was fuzzy.</p><p></p><p>Allar, Tri’ni, and finally David followed, swimming until they were shallow enough to wade. When they were fifty feet away, Lacy held up a bag and smiled. To Babb’s side, Seekan’s reptilian lips parted in a sharp-toothed grin.</p><p></p><p>The sun was rising, so they needed to get off the beach quickly, before any of the priests of Meliska or Vanessi saw them.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p>Allar closed the door behind them, giving them privacy just in time as the morning bells of the Temple of Vanessi began to ring. Babb, tense with curiosity, finally spoke.</p><p></p><p>“Tell me what I missed, dammit.”</p><p></p><p>The group smiled, in their own ways. Lacy’s nervous smile, Allar amused laugh, Tri’ni’s eager grin, David’s smirk. And Seekan, with a soft, knowing curve to his lips.</p><p></p><p>“We were attacked,” Tri’ni said, proudly lifting her shirt to show off the raw flesh of her side and thigh. It looked recently healed.</p><p></p><p>Lacy explained, “At the old temple, it was very hard to see, even with a light spell. Tri’ni was the one who spotted the creature. It was something like a lashai, big and with lots of tentacles.”</p><p></p><p>Allar nodded. “It covered me in some sort of slime that made me float to the surface, and then David seared it with a fire spell-”</p><p></p><p>“-which disturbed the water,” David continued, “causing the ruins of the temple to start to collapse.”</p><p></p><p>“Right,” Tri’ni said. “It grabbed Lacy, and me, and David, and was about to get away when the temple fell on it. I had to use the dagger you gave me to cut the tentacle off.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy said, “And Allar managed to cut through the slime and swim back down. He cut me free while David made the water steam around the lashai.”</p><p></p><p>It sounded very exciting to Babb. And they had not needed him.</p><p></p><p>“But then,” Tri’ni said, excited, “the monster started to eat Allar, holding him with all the tentacles we hadn’t cut off yet. I saw it knock Lacy’s sword away, and it fled, faster than David could catch up. </p><p></p><p>“Lacy and I swam with it, and just when the thing was about to pull Allar’s head inside it’s mouth, Lacy reached out and grabbed Allar’s arm. She put some spell on him, and the monster started to spasm and let go of Allar.”</p><p></p><p>Lacy explained, “I placed a ward on him. I was just lucky I guessed what type of magic the creature was vulnerable to.”</p><p></p><p>“Lacy was amazing,” Tri’ni said. “She swam faster than me, and when the thing let Allar go, she created a wall to keep the monster away.”</p><p></p><p>Babb looked at his sister. “You can do that? You never did that for me.”</p><p></p><p>“Sorry,” Lacy said. “Usually I figure it’s better off just to heal you.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s alright. So, the monster got away?” Babb was hopeful he might be able to finish it off.</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni shook her head. “No. It was great. The thing swam for David, and he’d been waiting for it. It went for him with its tentacles, and David just touched it, and. . . . This is the best part. David, do you want to tell him?”</p><p></p><p>David snorted, then shook his head.</p><p></p><p>“Oh, well,” Tri’ni said, “I was barely back to where David and the creature were, and I get there just in time to see the thing’s body transform into a naked gnome.”</p><p></p><p>Babb laughed. “What the hell?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s a disguise spell,” David said. “I just adapted it a bit. I thought it’d be useful underwater.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni grinned. “It was. It was, I guess I have to say, a little uncomfortable killing it when it looked like a gnome, but the monster couldn’t breath, and didn’t know how to swim without all its tentacles. We finished it easily.”</p><p></p><p>“Damn,” Babb grumbled. “So then you found the gem?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy said, “Yes. It took a while sifting through the debris, which is why we were late coming back. Seekan, I sincerely hope we found the right gem.”</p><p></p><p>Babb held his breath, watching Seekan and Lacy. She pulled forth a tiny clear gem and held it in her palm. It was less than a quarter of an inch across, with a triangular cut. Everyone leaned in close, probably not having had a chance to see it up close until now.</p><p></p><p>“It’s diamond,” David said. “The cut looks familiar.”</p><p></p><p>Seekan’s taloned fingers slid the tiny gem out of Lacy’s palm and into some pocket inside his robes. Sibilant, he replied, “I assure you, it is ancient.”</p><p></p><p>Babb harrumphed. “A diamond that small wouldn’t even cover the cost of those water breathing amulets. What’s so important about it.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni’s wide emerald eyes slid from Seekan to Babb. He saw awe in her expression.</p><p></p><p>“There’s a soul in it,” she said. “I wonder whose.”</p><p></p><p>“Unfortunately,” Seekan replied, his voice gentle, “you will have to remain curious.”</p><p></p><p>A knock came at the door, then a voice in Tennae, urgent. Babb looked around to the others, all dripping with seawater.</p><p></p><p>Allar cursed quietly. “I’d hoped we’d have a little more time than this. Lacy, what’s going on?”</p><p></p><p>“Just a moment,” Lacy said. </p><p></p><p>She had to search through her belongings to find the translating charm, and then she went to the door and spoke through it. A quick conversation followed, Lacy’s expression growing increasingly worried. Finally she took the necklace off.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t. . . . That was Therva. She’s worried the Meliskan priests are going to attack. They are saying one of their priests was murdered, less than an hour ago, in their chapel.”</p><p></p><p>David sighed. “Lucky us. Let me guess: one of them saw us at the beach by the chapel?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy shook her head. “No, not at all. Nobody seems to know what happened.”</p><p></p><p>Babb frowned, and he felt eyes turn to him. He had been near the chapel then, but his memory was blank. A deep growl filled his throat, and he looked with suspicion at Seekan.</p><p></p><p>“Did you see anything, boss?”</p><p></p><p>Seekan’s gold-green eyes narrowed. “We should prepare to leave. The ceremony is complete, correct?”</p><p></p><p>No one else seemed worried that the lizard man had ignored the question. Lacy simply replied, “Yes. We’re scheduled to set sail in about five hours.”</p><p></p><p>Allar stood, taking charge. “Alright. Get your things together and move back to our quarters on the <em>Tvencleft</em>. I know I’m exhausted, so try to get some sleep. We’re not getting paid to solve a murder mystery, so hopefully we’ll be gone before we get ourselves into trouble. We <em>aren’t</em> in any trouble, are we, Babb?”</p><p></p><p>Babb snapped out of his glare at Seekan long enough to scoff at Allar. “None that I caused, that’s for damn sure.”</p><p></p><p>“Sorry,” Allar said defensively. “I just don’t want to get between these two groups. No offense, Lacy?”</p><p></p><p>Lacy waved off his concern. “They’re not my Temple.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni chimed in, “This might be another ancient force of evil you’ve unleashed. It is a strange coincidence that there’d be a death while we were exploring the old temple.”</p><p></p><p>David jumped down from his chair and said, “I don’t handle ancient evil without sleep. Come on Allar. Let’s give the women room to change.”</p><p></p><p>Allar and David left, and Seekan did the same. Babb hesitated, still feeling uncomfortable. Then the Temple bells began to toll insistently, and he headed for the door.</p><p></p><p>Standing in the open doorway he said, “I’ve got a feeling we’ve gotten ourselves into trouble, and scaleface is to blame. I’ll put money to it.”</p><p></p><p>Tri’ni sighed. “Babb, you haven’t trusted him since you saw him. I’m sure, though. He is a good person. Try not to scare him away.”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah,” Babb said, “because there are lots of places to go on an island. You two get changed, and get to the boat.”</p><p></p><p>Babb left and closed the door behind him, and for a moment in the post-midnight sunrise he thought he saw mist creeping away from him. He blinked, and it was gone.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 1835776, member: 63"] [size=3][b]Episode Four: My Hero, Section IV[/b][/size] “Ugh.” Babb sat upright, splashing the seawater around him. That confused him. He did not remember falling asleep. Something tugged at his memory, a nightmare of mist and screams, but now the sun was rising, gray and shadowed, reflecting off the waves. Why was he sitting in the ocean? Eroded stone pillars and the remains of an old wooden dock surrounded him, pushing up out of the surf. Even sitting the water did not reach his belly, except when a wave splashed over him. He was not wearing his armor, and a water-breathing amulet was around his neck. Behind him was the Chapel of Meliska, and he thought he remembered going there last night, before, or maybe after, the others went for the sunken temple. The sun was rising now, so where were they? And why was he sitting in the ocean? A restrained voice said, “The sun rises, yet the others have not returned. It is good that you reconsidered following them.” Babb looked to Seekan, walking through the surf toward him, the hem of his robes turning wet as he left the beach. Something felt wrong. Babb did not remember seeing him there a moment earlier. “Um, yeah,” Babb said, shaking his head and standing. “Do you feel strange or anything?” Seekan barely shrugged. A distant splash sounded out to sea, and Babb saw Lacy’s head cast a long shadow over the water as it emerged from the waves. She kicked so her entire head and shoulders were above water, and then waved to him. Her shoulders were mostly bare, and Babb felt uncomfortable anger that she had worn the silly outfit. He wished he could remember when they had actually left, though. His memory was fuzzy. Allar, Tri’ni, and finally David followed, swimming until they were shallow enough to wade. When they were fifty feet away, Lacy held up a bag and smiled. To Babb’s side, Seekan’s reptilian lips parted in a sharp-toothed grin. The sun was rising, so they needed to get off the beach quickly, before any of the priests of Meliska or Vanessi saw them. [center]* * *[/center] Allar closed the door behind them, giving them privacy just in time as the morning bells of the Temple of Vanessi began to ring. Babb, tense with curiosity, finally spoke. “Tell me what I missed, dammit.” The group smiled, in their own ways. Lacy’s nervous smile, Allar amused laugh, Tri’ni’s eager grin, David’s smirk. And Seekan, with a soft, knowing curve to his lips. “We were attacked,” Tri’ni said, proudly lifting her shirt to show off the raw flesh of her side and thigh. It looked recently healed. Lacy explained, “At the old temple, it was very hard to see, even with a light spell. Tri’ni was the one who spotted the creature. It was something like a lashai, big and with lots of tentacles.” Allar nodded. “It covered me in some sort of slime that made me float to the surface, and then David seared it with a fire spell-” “-which disturbed the water,” David continued, “causing the ruins of the temple to start to collapse.” “Right,” Tri’ni said. “It grabbed Lacy, and me, and David, and was about to get away when the temple fell on it. I had to use the dagger you gave me to cut the tentacle off.” Lacy said, “And Allar managed to cut through the slime and swim back down. He cut me free while David made the water steam around the lashai.” It sounded very exciting to Babb. And they had not needed him. “But then,” Tri’ni said, excited, “the monster started to eat Allar, holding him with all the tentacles we hadn’t cut off yet. I saw it knock Lacy’s sword away, and it fled, faster than David could catch up. “Lacy and I swam with it, and just when the thing was about to pull Allar’s head inside it’s mouth, Lacy reached out and grabbed Allar’s arm. She put some spell on him, and the monster started to spasm and let go of Allar.” Lacy explained, “I placed a ward on him. I was just lucky I guessed what type of magic the creature was vulnerable to.” “Lacy was amazing,” Tri’ni said. “She swam faster than me, and when the thing let Allar go, she created a wall to keep the monster away.” Babb looked at his sister. “You can do that? You never did that for me.” “Sorry,” Lacy said. “Usually I figure it’s better off just to heal you.” “That’s alright. So, the monster got away?” Babb was hopeful he might be able to finish it off. Tri’ni shook her head. “No. It was great. The thing swam for David, and he’d been waiting for it. It went for him with its tentacles, and David just touched it, and. . . . This is the best part. David, do you want to tell him?” David snorted, then shook his head. “Oh, well,” Tri’ni said, “I was barely back to where David and the creature were, and I get there just in time to see the thing’s body transform into a naked gnome.” Babb laughed. “What the hell?” “It’s a disguise spell,” David said. “I just adapted it a bit. I thought it’d be useful underwater.” Tri’ni grinned. “It was. It was, I guess I have to say, a little uncomfortable killing it when it looked like a gnome, but the monster couldn’t breath, and didn’t know how to swim without all its tentacles. We finished it easily.” “Damn,” Babb grumbled. “So then you found the gem?” Lacy said, “Yes. It took a while sifting through the debris, which is why we were late coming back. Seekan, I sincerely hope we found the right gem.” Babb held his breath, watching Seekan and Lacy. She pulled forth a tiny clear gem and held it in her palm. It was less than a quarter of an inch across, with a triangular cut. Everyone leaned in close, probably not having had a chance to see it up close until now. “It’s diamond,” David said. “The cut looks familiar.” Seekan’s taloned fingers slid the tiny gem out of Lacy’s palm and into some pocket inside his robes. Sibilant, he replied, “I assure you, it is ancient.” Babb harrumphed. “A diamond that small wouldn’t even cover the cost of those water breathing amulets. What’s so important about it.” Tri’ni’s wide emerald eyes slid from Seekan to Babb. He saw awe in her expression. “There’s a soul in it,” she said. “I wonder whose.” “Unfortunately,” Seekan replied, his voice gentle, “you will have to remain curious.” A knock came at the door, then a voice in Tennae, urgent. Babb looked around to the others, all dripping with seawater. Allar cursed quietly. “I’d hoped we’d have a little more time than this. Lacy, what’s going on?” “Just a moment,” Lacy said. She had to search through her belongings to find the translating charm, and then she went to the door and spoke through it. A quick conversation followed, Lacy’s expression growing increasingly worried. Finally she took the necklace off. “I don’t. . . . That was Therva. She’s worried the Meliskan priests are going to attack. They are saying one of their priests was murdered, less than an hour ago, in their chapel.” David sighed. “Lucky us. Let me guess: one of them saw us at the beach by the chapel?” Lacy shook her head. “No, not at all. Nobody seems to know what happened.” Babb frowned, and he felt eyes turn to him. He had been near the chapel then, but his memory was blank. A deep growl filled his throat, and he looked with suspicion at Seekan. “Did you see anything, boss?” Seekan’s gold-green eyes narrowed. “We should prepare to leave. The ceremony is complete, correct?” No one else seemed worried that the lizard man had ignored the question. Lacy simply replied, “Yes. We’re scheduled to set sail in about five hours.” Allar stood, taking charge. “Alright. Get your things together and move back to our quarters on the [i]Tvencleft[/i]. I know I’m exhausted, so try to get some sleep. We’re not getting paid to solve a murder mystery, so hopefully we’ll be gone before we get ourselves into trouble. We [i]aren’t[/i] in any trouble, are we, Babb?” Babb snapped out of his glare at Seekan long enough to scoff at Allar. “None that I caused, that’s for damn sure.” “Sorry,” Allar said defensively. “I just don’t want to get between these two groups. No offense, Lacy?” Lacy waved off his concern. “They’re not my Temple.” Tri’ni chimed in, “This might be another ancient force of evil you’ve unleashed. It is a strange coincidence that there’d be a death while we were exploring the old temple.” David jumped down from his chair and said, “I don’t handle ancient evil without sleep. Come on Allar. Let’s give the women room to change.” Allar and David left, and Seekan did the same. Babb hesitated, still feeling uncomfortable. Then the Temple bells began to toll insistently, and he headed for the door. Standing in the open doorway he said, “I’ve got a feeling we’ve gotten ourselves into trouble, and scaleface is to blame. I’ll put money to it.” Tri’ni sighed. “Babb, you haven’t trusted him since you saw him. I’m sure, though. He is a good person. Try not to scare him away.” “Yeah,” Babb said, “because there are lots of places to go on an island. You two get changed, and get to the boat.” Babb left and closed the door behind him, and for a moment in the post-midnight sunrise he thought he saw mist creeping away from him. He blinked, and it was gone. [/QUOTE]
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