Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sagiro" data-source="post: 392681" data-attributes="member: 726">Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 151 Wednesday, July 25Sitting cross-legged in the center of the Greenhouse living room, Flicker lets out a contented sight.  Around him are piles of gems on the floor, stacks of gems on the low table, gems being batted around by cats and (in all likelihood) gems that have found their way into a few hidden pockets.  The other members of the Company are nearby, eating lunch and waiting for the final tally.“Including the trade bars, I’d say we’ve got about 190,000 gold pieces worth of loot out of that place.  The Black Circle must have been building up that nest egg for years!”Even after several generous donations to various churches, that still leaves enough left over for plenty of the exotic ingredients required for making magic items.  The Company has started to make shopping lists when there is a knock on the door.    A messenger delivers a letter to Eddings, which he passes to Kay.  It seems that their royal uniforms are ready to be picked up at the palace tailor, at their convenience.“All right!” Dranko exclaims, and at his urging, they leave for the palace grounds straight away.   The tailor, a nice old lady named Bella, makes them all change into the new uniforms on the spot, and then makes some impromptu alterations while they stand there.  They are ornate but tasteful, crimson with gold trim, bearing the royal crest of Charagan – a fish over a sword.  Wearing them, the Company will be now be recognized as soldiers of the King’s Guard, as Kay had requested.  “Pulling rank will be a breeze in these,” Dranko notes.While they’re in the neighborhood, Kay makes an appointment for the Company to debrief with Duke Nigel of Harkran the following afternoon, since they still haven’t made any official report to the Spire about their defeat of Mokad.Back at the Greenhouse, while Ernie prepares dinner, there is another knock on the door.Eddings grabs his continual flame coin from its pouch, opens the door a crack, and shines the light in the face of the man standing outside.  But there’s no cause for alarm – it’s Sutton, their erstwhile replacement-navigator hired on after Makel’s departure.  He squints straight into the light and clears his throat.“Yeah, yeah I remember the drill,” he says, walking past Eddings into the house.  “I ain’t no crazy body-possessin’ critter.  Not today, anyways.  I just figgered I’d drop by and remind you that you still had me on retainer.”“We haven’t forgotten,” Morningstar says.  “We’ve just been very busy lately, and haven’t had any reason to sail anywhere.”“You think you might need me anytime soon?” Sutton asks hopefully.“Er…we’re not really sure,” says Aravis.  “Well, I wondered if you’d mind, then, if I went and did a bit o’ sailin’ on my own.  I’m itchin’ for a rocking deck beneath my feet.  Antsy for the ocean and all that.  It’d just be a short job, two weeks maybe, but I’d be out of touch.”The Company assures him that that’s fine.  Ernie brings him some fresh rolls for his trouble.  If anyone notices his wide-eyed stare when he spots Flicker’s stacks of gems on the floor, they are polite enough not to point it out.Wednesday, July 26Duke Nigel lets out a long, slow breath.Before him in his audience chamber, the Company has just given him a full report of Mokad’s operation in Kallor.  The closeness of the shave is not lost on him.“Abernathy chose well when he selected you,” he says.  “Charagan is indebted to you once again.  I wish time and circumstance could allow for a celebration, but I still fear for the Spire and the Kingdom.”“Has something specific happened?” asks Aravis“Not as such,” says Nigel.  “But Ozilinsh isn’t the only Archmage who’s gone silent.  It’s all of them.  No one else in the Spire has heard a word from an Archmage in weeks, and the most likely explanation is not promising.  They must be being put to the test, out there in their towers…”He gestures vaguely toward a window.“…spending all of their energy and focus on their task.  We must face the possibility that Naradawk is making his final push, and that our wizards may fail.  I believe that we should be repositioning troops to Verdshane.”“But what about the Nifi worshippers?” asks Flicker.  “Aren’t the…?”“Yes.”  Nigel snaps.  “The Delfiri still press us on the peninsula.  I wouldn’t propose giving up the southern theatre.  In fact, soldiers we’ve already recommitted to the fight with the Delfiri have allowed us to push the front back in recent days. But we have other troops who were in more demanding engagements with the humanoid forces, and who have not yet been reassigned to the Balani.  We were hoping that they could have time to recover before being thrown back into the fray, but I feel that is not a luxury we have.  We could field a force of two thousand troops near Verdshane without devastating our defenses elsewhere. “I hate Verdshane,” Dranko mumbles.“At least the news from there is good,” says Nigel.  “No more monsters have escaped from the hanging boxes, no sign of change in the stasis field around the gate.  And no sign of that woman… Meledien.”The Duke sighs.  “I wish I knew where Rosetta and Etria had gone.”“Rosetta?” Ernie asks.  The Company is immediately on edge at the mention of her name.“She took my court wizardess and a dozen guards off on some kind of ‘secret mission’ against Black Circle interests.  That was a few days ago.  I don’t know when to expect her return.”No members of the Company voice their vague suspicions of Rosetta out loud to the Duke.  There is an awkward silence.“Ah, I must get back to work,” the Duke says finally.  “I’ll send word should we have need of you.  You should do likewise, if you learn anything new, or hear from Ozilinsh.”Back at the Greenhouse Eddings has taken control of the ice-box, so dinner is happily free of Skorg’s culinary influence.  There is some preliminary discussion around the table about what to do next, and the group decision is to spend some down time training and crafting magic items, until the next crisis hits.  As dinner ends and Eddings starts bringing out dessert, the sound of a violent wind comes from the Greenhouse chimney.…to be continued…</blockquote>

Verification