Delemental
First Post
Interview With The... Well, You Know
So, enough fiction already! Let's have a real update!
Another one of my longish ones, I'm afraid... though I doubt you'll mind that much.
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The two weeks of travel from the silver mine to Lord Morladim’s domain were far from uneventful. Though the party could have easily traveled there more quickly, they opted to take the slower overland route, not only because they didn’t want to alarm the Vampire Prince, but because they had no idea when or how Osborn would return to them, and didn’t want to risk leaving him stranded in the mountains with no way of following them.
On their first night of hiking through the mountains, the tranquility of the camp was broken by some sort of disagreement between Autumn and Kyle which resulted in the wizard storming off for several hours. Neither of them discussed the reasons for the conflict, but several hours later the rest of the party was again awakened by the apparent resolution of their differences. Two days later, the party again was disturbed early in the morning when Autumn suddenly called out from the tent she shared with Kyle, shouting for help.
Arrie and Tolly were halfway to the tent when they heard Aran’s voice in their minds; Stop, and wait. There is no danger. Autumn will explain soon.
Several minutes later, a bewildered looking Kyle was led out of the tent by Autumn, who directed him to a fallen log nearby and handed him a woodcutter’s hatchet, asking him if he would cut some firewood for them while she talked with her friends. Once he was occupied, Autumn came over to the rest of the group.
“We don’t need any firewood, you know,” Lanara commented.
“I know, but it keeps him busy for a while,” Autumn replied.
“Yeah, what exactly is Kyle’s problem?” Arrie asked. “He’s looking at us like we’re strangers.”
“Kyle has apparently asked Aran to perform a psionic operation on his mind, altering certain key memories and experiences to allow him to gain a better understanding of certain magical principles at the cost of losing other knowledge,” she explained. “But the process of reintegrating his memories will take a few days, and until then, Kyle won’t quite be himself.”
“Ardara preserve us,” Tolly muttered, shaking his head.
“Arrie, I’ll need to share your tent for a few days,” Autumn explained. “Kyle’s sort of reliving the last four years of his life, in a way. He doesn’t even remember us, because Aran had to start reworking his memories from the time he first entered the Tower as a student, before he knew any of us. I think that until he gets to the point where he remembers who I am and that we’re married, I should act as if we’re not husband and wife. From his perspective, it’d be like a woman he barely knows jumping into bed with him every night.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’d hate that,” Lanara quipped.
“I don’t want to cause any unnecessary shocks to his mind,” Autumn replied coolly.
“Too bad, you’re missing a great opportunity,” the bard said with a smirk. “By the time you got your hands on Kyle, most of his rough edges were smoothed out. Now he’s back down to the raw, unblemished farm boy he used to be. A lot of noblewomen I know go to a lot of trouble to get their hands on one of those.”
Autumn slapped her hand on her forehead. “I’m not having this conversation,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Why are the most intimate details of my personal life always the topic of discussion?” she said as she walked away.
“Okay, I think that’s enough teasing my sister,” Arrie said. “We should get moving, and keep an eye on Kyle. He’s probably going to be a bit unpredictable for a few days.”
As the party went about breaking camp, Arrie walked over to where Autumn stood. She was watching as Kyle, dressed in a simple sleeveless shirt and pants instead of his robes, split and corded the old tree. The sentinel chewed her lower lip thoughtfully as Arrie studied her face for a moment.
“Autumn,” Arrie said at last, “No.”
“I was just considering…”
“No, Autumn.”
“But…”
“No.”
Autumn sighed. “I know, I know.”
Kyle’s recovery went rapidly. By midday he had remembered enough that the party members were no longer strangers to him, and by that evening recalled being part of an adventuring group with them. There were some odd moments, such as when Kyle was reliving Tolly’s death at the hands of Sauroth’s flesh golem, or recalling Lanara being framed by Marrek for the theft of the Estranëan relic. He also seemed to have trouble with the fact that two people he knew should be around were nowhere to be seen*. And then there were the occasional outbursts that seemed to come from no memory any of the rest of the party shared, words or actions that even seemed to baffle Kyle. Autumn tried to explain, after an episode where Kyle snapped at Arrie and threatened to “devour her soul”, and then blinked, mumbled an apology, and wandered off.
“Aran told me that in order to perform the psychic reformation on the memories that Kyle wanted, he had to scan other wizards and sorcerers to get the information he needed,” she said. “He said that some bits of the personalities of those other mages might come out once in a while, but should ease off soon.”
“Good,” Arrie said, “because if he threatens to devour anything of mine again, I may have to perform a non-psychic reformation on his teeth.”
The next day was more difficult. Kyle was clearly starting to relive his growing affection for Autumn as well as his old conflicts with Tolly over her and over the ‘new’ threat of the psions. He became cold and gruff toward Tolly, and was practically hovering over Autumn. At one point, during a break in travel, Tolly and Autumn went off alone to have a private conversation. Autumn returned from the talk clearly not in a good mood, though she glossed it over when Lanara asked what was the matter. Kyle, however, stood up, and walked over to where Tolly was walking back into the camp. The wizard shouted at Tolly for upsetting Autumn, and seemed about ready to strike the priest, until Autumn and Arrie pulled him away and talked to him quietly. Tolly sat down next to Crystal and Lanara.
“I think I should leave soon, before things get truly unpleasant,” he said. “He hasn’t even reached the worst point of our old conflict.”
Lanara and Crystal both nodded at the mention of Tolly leaving, though the axani seemed less than pleased about it. Tolly had told the party that he’d been praying to Ardara for guidance for the past several days, and that lately he’d felt a strange compulsion to perform a brief pilgrimage. Tolly felt it was a message from his goddess.
“Sir,” Crystal began, “are you certain this is wise? Under the circumstances, you…”
“You’ll be fine, Crystal,” Tolly said, cutting off his apprentice. He knew the reasons for her apprehension. The strained relations between Crystal and Autumn had not improved over time, as he’d hoped they would; in fact, the discussion he’d just had with Autumn had been about that very fact, and the aasimar had made it very clear that she didn’t trust Crystal and that anything confirming her mistrust would be dealt with aggressively. Tolly was at a loss to explain the sentinel’s obstinacy, and even Arrie was hard-pressed to explain her sister’s reaction when he’d asked her opinion. Tolly could only hope that Crystal would continue to tread lightly around the volatile aasimar. He couldn’t count on Kyle being a calming influence on Autumn, at least not for a few more days yet.
Eventually everyone came back to the camp, and Kyle mumbled an apology to Tolly. After a restless night, the party awoke to find that Tolly had left.
“So that’s Tolly gone, Osborn still not back, and Kyle… not quite up to speed,” sighed Autumn. “It feels like we’re splintering apart, Arrie. I don’t like it.”
“Things are different now,” Arrie said. “We all have responsibilities and concerns outside the Legacy, things that divide our attention. You can’t tell me that if you had the chance, you wouldn’t slip off to Vargex right now, just to see how things are.”
“It’s true,” Autumn admitted.
“We’ve been apart for four months, and back together for a week. It’s going to be a bit rough before we get back in our old rhythms again. But we will. We did fine against those giants, right?”
“You’re right,” Autumn sighed. “I’m just anxious. We should be entering Lord Morladim’s domain tomorrow, and I hate not being at full strength.”
As Autumn predicted, the party crossed into the region known as the Dark Hills late the next day. Though there were no signs or markers at the border, they each felt a sudden inexplicable chill as they moved into Morladim’s domain. All around them, the shadows seemed darker, the foliage thinner, the wildlife more skittish. Autumn confirmed the presence of a faint miasma of evil all around them. Their encounters with packs of mindless undead became more frequent, running into one or sometimes two groups a day. By the second day of travel they came upon a path, though it was obviously not well used, and started to follow it, assuming it would eventually lead them to the Vampire Prince’s castle. They began to fly a banner showing Herion’s personal heraldry, to show their intentions were peaceful.
Tolly returned to the party about five days after he left. Quietly walking up to the group as they rested near the road, the priest sat down next to Kyle as if he’d been there the whole time. However, he quickly drew attention.
“You look different, Tolly,” Lanara said, summing up their thought nicely. For the past year or so, Tolly had been infusing his own body and spirit with the powers of elemental earth. As he’d done so, his skin had taken on a hard, rock-like appearance, and the hair on his head and beard had become coarse and wiry. But now his skin was smooth, though weathered, and his hair was soft and fluttered in the breeze.
“I have been reforged by Ardara,” he explained. “The path I had chosen once to serve my goddess was no longer suitable. I have now gained a deeper understanding of Her will.”
“Great,” said Lanara, “last time you got ‘reforged’ you were insufferable for weeks. Are you sure that you two got it right this time?”
Crystal bristled at the near-blasphemous comment, but Tolly only smiled. “I’ve learned to accept that in the pursuit of Law, one must often be willing to embrace change,” he replied. “As to whether we ‘got it right’, I can only say that I am but one of Ardara’s tools in Affon. As long as the tool is suited to the task, then all is as it should be. Should the task change, or should a new tool be required, then I will submit to Her needs again if need be.”
Tolly looked over at Kyle. “Speaking of change, and of being insufferable, how goes things with you?”
“Better,” he said. “My memories are back where they should be, though I’m still struggling with a few personality fragments that surface every once in a while. So ignore me if I say or do anything weird. I think I should be fine in a week or less.”
“Good. Then we should be on our way.”
They set off again, following the road to Morladim’s castle. The path widened and improved gradually into a road, though it was still obviously not used much. They passed the remnants of a few villages, long deserted, but saw no sign of any living beings, not that this was overly surprising to them. The oppressive air of the Dark Hills became stronger as they traveled, until Tolly and Autumn reported that the taint in the land was so pervasive that their innate ability to sense it was being overwhelmed. They were constantly accompanied by a cold, miserable drizzle of rain.
On the twelfth day since leaving the mine, Kyle suddenly called out a warning. “Teleporter arriving,” he said**. “Two travelers, one humanoid, one magically enhanced animal.” Kyle pointed at the ground in the middle of the party. “I’m diverting them to there.”
Seconds later, Osborn and Rupert reappeared in their midst without fanfare. Everyone lowered their weapons.
“Hi there!” Osborn said. “Miss me?”
“Always,” said Lanara. “What were you doing?”
“Oh, I just had to stop an assassination attempt on Emperor Haxtha,” the hin replied. “I’ll tell you about it later. You guys take care of those giants?”
“Of course,” Arrie replied.
“So, did your goddess touch you too?” Lanara asked. “Did Ladta ‘reshuffle your deck’ or something like that?”
“Not that I know of,” Osborn said, patting himself down to make sure nothing was out of place. “Why? What’s been going on? Where are we? Why is it so creepy? And what’s that sound?”
“Sound?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, sounds like several horses and a wagon or something, coming up the road,” he replied.
A moment later, Crystal nodded to confirm that she heard it too. Then, from a distant bend in the road, the party saw a black carriage being pulled by four black horses. The coachman was clad in black plate armor, and two outriders behind the carriage were similarly armored. One of the outriders carried a pennant with a vaguely familiar device on it; a black sunset over a green field.
“Morladim’s personal crest,” Lanara said. “Based on the heraldry of the Tlaxan Imperial Family.”
The party stood and waited for the carriage to approach, while Kyle quickly filled Osborn in on the events he’d missed and their current mission. The carriage pulled up next to the party and stopped, waiting for the horses to settle before the door opened and its occupant stepped out.
She was tall, and slender, and wore an elegant gown that was certainly not contemporary in style, but had a timeless quality that would not have been out of place in any noble court. The gown was flowing, and adorned with lace. The black satin of the dress contrasted sharply with the woman’s pale skin, though seemed to almost blend in with her raven-black hair, which cascaded loose and straight down her shoulders. She appeared human, though there were some small signs of elvish ancestry around her eyes. On first glance, she appeared no more than seventeen years of age. Reflexively, the party glanced up at the sun in the sky, which was obscured by heavy clouds but still obviously present. Then they noted other telltale signs – the slight flush to her cheek, the gentle rise and fall of her bosom.
“I am Lady Genevieve,” the woman said, taking in each of the members of the party with sparkling blue eyes. “Daughter of Morladim, lord of these lands. I welcome you to his domain. We have seen the banner you fly from the castle beyond these hills. What business would the Imperial Prince of Tlaxan have with the Dark Hills?”
Autumn stepped forward and bowed. “My Lady, I am Autumn Goodson, Duchess of Vargex in the Empire of Tlaxan. This is Imperial Princess Ariadne Verahannen of the Empire, Inquisitor Primus Tolly Nightsleaving of the Church of Ardara, Duke-Consort Kyle Goodson, Lanara Rahila, and Osborn Greenbottle.” No one commented on the fact that Autumn had left Crystal out of the introductions, though Tolly laid a reassuring hand on his apprentice’s shoulder. “We comprise the adventuring group known as The Legacy, and have been dispatched at the request of his Imperial Highness, Herion of Tlaxan, as a diplomatic envoy to your lord and father.”
“I do not know if my father has been expecting you specifically,” Genevieve said, “but we have been expecting guests for some time now. Rooms for ten were already prepared, though I see now that only seven will be required. I would welcome you to our lands, and invite you to the castle of my lord to share what hospitality we may provide. If you have been troubled by the mindless undead that wander the outskirts of my father’s domain, we apologize for this, and will make what reparations are necessary.”
“No reparations are required,” Lanara said, “and we gladly accept your invitation. How far is it to the castle?”
“Only an hour, if you don’t mind setting a brisk pace. But come, I tire of standing in the rain, as I am sure you do as well. Shall we be on our way?”
“Lead the way, My Lady,” Lanara replied.
“Would any of you care to join me in my carriage? There is room for some of you in here.”
Osborn looked down at Rupert, who was whining quietly and inching back from the carriage. Osborn noted that while Genevieve herself appeared alive, the coachman and outriders almost certainly were not. “I think I’ll stay out here. I want to ride.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I will also remain out here,” Arrie said. “I don’t mind the rain so much.”
“I’ll go with you!” Kyle said. “These frail old bones could use a rest.” Everyone stopped to look at the tall, broad-shouldered wizard. He paused, reviewing his words, and then shook his own head in disbelief before moving past Genevieve to enter the carriage. Autumn, watching as Kyle smiled at Morladim’s daughter as he climbed in, also decided to ride in the carriage. Lanara also accepted the invitation and climbed into the carriage, followed by Genevieve gracefully ascending behind her when no one else approached.
The carriage went farther down the road until it reached a point wide enough to turn around, and then made its way up the road back the way it came. Inside the carriage there was some attempt at small talk, with some effort by Lanara to gauge Morladim’s opinions on the war. They learned that the lord of the Dark Hills hadn’t concerned himself much with the Tauric invasion, as there had been little direct impact on them. As promised, the ride lasted about an hour before they drew within sight of Lord Morladim’s castle.
To call it a mere castle hardly did it justice. The huge walled structure enclosed an area that was easily half as large as the Imperial Palace complex in Noxolt. The main castle rose far above the complex, its many towers jutting like knives into the overcast sky. The carriage and the party rode through the massive iron gate in the outer wall unchallenged, and proceeded through a series of inner gates to the main castle. Several liveried servants, both living and undead, waited outside the carriage when they came to a halt.
Genevieve turned to the party after they had all gathered in the courtyard. “The servants will show you to the rooms that have been prepared for you. Dinner will be served in your rooms this evening, and I will escort you to my father’s throne room for an audience tonight after the sun has set.” With a swirl of black satin, Genevieve turned and walked into the castle, followed by a few servants.
“Well then,” Arrie said, “we may as well go in and freshen up for our audience.”
An old, wizened man shuffled up to the party. “If you will follow me,” the servant said wearily, “I will show you to your rooms.”
“Are the rooms all together?” Osborn asked.
“Yes, they are. Come with me please.” The old man began to shuffle off at an uncomfortably slow pace. Along the way, Autumn pulled Kyle aside.
“You certainly warmed up to Lady Genevieve quickly,” she commented.
“She’s charming,” Kyle said.
“I’m sure,” Autumn replied. “And pretty too. You were practically drooling.”
“I was not,” Kyle said indignantly.
“Here, you should take this,” Autumn said with a smile, handing him a handkerchief. “Wouldn’t want you to start drooling again when you see her and end up ruining your robes.”
Kyle sneered as he grabbed the handkerchief and then put some distance between himself and Autumn. The sentinel chuckled to herself, and then glanced at Lanara.
“After all the crap he’s put us through the past few days, I figure he deserves a little grief,” she said.
Their rooms were spacious, and plush, though somewhat gloomy due to the general lack of windows in the castle. A roaring fire was already burning in each room. After cleaning off the dirt of the trail and changing out of their armor and traveling clothes, the party gathered in Lanara’s room to discuss their strategy and pass the time until dinner.
“So, I’m sure the rest of you have already talked about this,” Osborn said, “but what do we know about this Morladim guy?”
“He’s a former merchant prince, and an ancestor of the Tlaxan Imperial Family,” Lanara said. “A cousin, sort of like Sauroth was. Same interest in necromancy, too, though Morladim was a sorcerer, not a wizard. If he were alive, Morladim would rank just under Herion in status – you tend to drop a couple of notches in the hierarchy if you become undead.”
“How’d he become a vampire?” Osborn asked.
“The stories say it was deliberate on his part,” Lanara answered. “He sought immortality, but decided against lichdom, as it would not only take decades of study to master the ritual, but the process would ruin his looks. He’s supposed to be very handsome. The rumor is that he allowed himself to be seduced by a vampire, but had already arranged for his mistress to be destroyed shortly afterward, so that he wouldn’t be under her thrall.”
“What do we know about his principality?” the hin asked.
“Well, first of all, understand that even though people outside the land refer to Morladim as the Vampire Prince, he’s only ever gone by Lord Morladim. The Dark Hills have never been formally recognized as an independent nation, though their existence has never been challenged either. So technically it’s not a principality.”
Lanara continued with her lecture. “It’s well known that several clerics of Erito serve under Morladim, and several of them have been turned into vampires in exchange for their loyalty. He’s organized the Dark Hills into a sort of kingdom, with various undead creatures holding lands of their own and serving Morladim as his ‘vassal’. No one knows for sure how many undead or what kinds live in the Dark Hills, because Morladim keeps a pretty tight control on them and doesn’t let them rampage through nearby towns. The majority of Morladim’s subjects are intelligent undead – there are relatively few skeletons and zombies, and from what Genevieve said when we met her, I’d guess they see them as much of a nuisance as we do. Obviously there are some vampires here, as well as a lot of ghosts and wraiths and other incorporeal undead. I’ve heard there are at least a dozen nightshades that wander around as well.”
“What are we offering him for an alliance?” Osborn asked.
“No idea. He’s not going to be interested in money, land, titles, or any of that stuff. I figure he knows why we’re here, so we’ll let him name some terms and go from there.”
A couple of hours later, dinner was served. The meal was bland and hardly remarkable, but since it was assumed that the castle staff didn’t get much practice in cooking, no one raised much of a fuss. Later, after the sun had set (or at that was assumed, since no one had a window to check this), there was a knock on each of their doors, and Lady Genevieve greeted them.
“My father awaits you in his audience chamber,” she said. “Come, I will escort you.”
The party followed Genevieve down a labyrinthine series of long hallways, until they came to a set of large bronze and silver doors engraved with Morladim’s crest. The doors seemed to open of their own accord, allowing them access to an enormous room, at least a hundred yards long. A thick red carpet ran the length of the room. Huge marble columns supported a buttressed roof above their heads, upon which was painted a fresco of what at first appeared to be men and women of various races cavorting together. But when they looked at it closely, they saw that in fact several of the revelers were in fact vampires, feeding on their enraptured victims. Though the figures showed no sign of discomfort, and there was not a trace of blood or gore, the scene was still disturbing to look upon.
A large throne, carved from basalt, dominated the far end of the room. Seated upon the throne was a striking figure in elegant, if somewhat dated clothes. The elven vampire had black hair, which he wore loose as it tumbled gently across his shoulders and down his back. Piercing blue eyes were set into a flawless face with high cheekbones and dark, sensuous lips. Morladim seemed utterly at ease, and utterly in control of himself and all around him.
Genevieve introduced the party members one by one, and Morladim nodded to each in turn, offering a brief comment or compliment to each. When his eyes fell on Kyle, the wizard suddenly yelped and hid behind Autumn, but then a second later stepped out, embarrassed, and bowed his head respectfully to Morladim. When the vampire then acknowledged Autumn, offering her a compliment on her beauty and her skill in battle, the sentinel could only mumble her thanks, as she stared wide-eyed at the stunning man.
Behind her, Kyle quietly handed Autumn a handkerchief. She kicked him in the shin.
“Welcome to my domain, noble emissaries,” Morladim said. “I hope my servants have seen to your needs while you awaited this audience.”
“They have, thank you,” Lanara said. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
“It is so rare that we have visitors,” Morladim commented.
“You are a bit out of the way,” Tolly replied.
“Which is probably one reason. Tell me, what exactly has brought you all this way, flying the banner of an Imperial Prince? I am impressed that my cousins have finally sent a delegation to me again after all these years.”
“From what I understand from your daughter Genevieve, the current war in Tlaxan has not touched you here, am I correct?”
“Not very much, no.”
Lanara considered for a moment. “Would you prefer that we be formal, or honest?”
Morladim laughed. “Let’s try honest, and see how it goes.”
“As you wish,” Lanara said. “We’re here on a diplomatic mission to negotiate with you concerning the well-being of the continent upon which we all live. Specifically, the Empire of Tlaxan would like to negotiate for a formal alliance with you to aid them in their war with the Tauric Empire. The resources at your command would be invaluable in this effort.”
“So you wish to buy my troops and support,” Morladim said.
“Essentially, yes.”
“Well, I do have a considerable amount of resources at my disposal,” Morladim said, smiling. “Resources that the current government of Tlaxan is sorely lacking. I can certainly see how it would be advantageous to them in this situation. However, I have my own concerns. A few… domestic issues, if you will.”
Lanara could see where this was going. “Such is the burden of all who lead, my lord.”
“I imagine that the Emperor wants to offer me a few concessions, a bit of this or that, a few trinkets,” Morladim continued. “I really could care less about that.”
“Then it may be best to simply ask what it is you want,” Tolly said.
“First, I want to know that the emissaries that have been sent to me are ones who would honor me, not simply flatter me. I would hope that the Empire would have sent representatives whose talents were reflective of their respect for me and my position.”
In other words, did they send people who could do a little work on my behalf, Lanara thought. She’d wondered why Herion hadn’t sent a normal diplomatic envoy; she understood now that the prince had probably anticipated Morladim’s needs.
“Before I will enter into negotiations with the Empire, I have tasks I would ask you to perform on my behalf.”
“Such as?” Lanara asked.
“Well, I certainly would not ask you to take care of all my concerns; that would simply be rude. There are three issues of greatest concern to me currently. I will name these concerns, and allow you to choose one that you wish to aid me with. I will then choose one concern of my own that I would have your assistance to rectify. Once those two tasks are complete, I will negotiate an alliance with you. I will tell you in advance that I will have but one condition for the Emperor to meet to agree to aid him in this war, which I will reveal to you when negotiations have formally begun. I assume you have the means to communicate my terms to the Emperor swiftly.”
“What tasks would you set for us?” Tolly asked.
“The first task concerns one of my vassalages. As you know, I run the Dark Hills as a kingdom, though I would not presume to call myself a king. Among my vassals is the domain of the incorporeal undead – ghosts, wraiths, shadows and the like. That principality is currently in rebellion. Their ruler has declared a civil war against me. As you can imagine, given the nature of these rebels, it is somewhat difficult for the ghouls and vampire thralls under my command to deal with this problem.”
“A bit hard for them to sink their teeth into the problem,” Tolly summed up.
“Precisely. The first task I would offer as a choice is to quell their uprising. The second task would be to assist me with a unique opportunity to perform something never before attempted in the arcane arts. I would imagine that you have all heard of, and perhaps even encountered the various elemental and arcane Nodes of Aelfenn. After centuries of research, I believe it is possible to create a Shadow Node.”
Behind Autumn, Kyle made a gasping noise. A moment later, he took the handkerchief back from his wife.
“My second task would be to assist me in research and gathering materials. The third task is actually one that would be performed after our negotiations have concluded. You have all met my daughter Genevieve. By now you are aware that she has not had the dark gift of vampirism bestowed upon her. She is, however, a member of the Imperial family through my blood, and deserves to be treated as such. My third task would be to have you escort Genevieve back to the Imperial Court in Tlaxan, there to receive all of the schooling and benefits entitled her.”
Morladim smiled at the party. “Which task will you choose? You may withdraw and discuss your options privately.”
The party pulled back a few feet. “I’m not sure we have the time to embroil ourselves in a civil war,” Tolly said immediately, “but neither do we have time to spend on arcane research. As for the third task, it seems deceptively simple, but at the same time it seems like something that it would be right and proper to do anyway.”
“It does seem that way,” Autumn agreed.
“I am somewhat wary about taking Genevieve back to Noxolt, however, given the proximity of the Tauric army.”
“Well, the location of the Imperial Palace and the location of the Imperial Court aren’t always the same,” Arrie pointed out.
“Good point. I think we should introduce Genevieve to Aralda.”
Arrie frowned. “I’m going to be somewhat protective of Aralda here. We don’t know anything about Genevieve. I’d like to get to know her a little bit before deciding who to introduce her to.”
“And their interests may not mesh well,” Kyle pointed out. “Remember that Aralda’s a druid, and that Genevieve comes from a necromantic background, even if she isn’t undead herself.”
“Yeah, how does that work exactly?” Osborn asked. “How can she be his daughter?”
“A vampire that has gorged themselves on blood can cause some of their bodily functions to begin working again,” Tolly said. “Lord Morladim very well could have seduced and impregnated a human woman. Genevieve does bear some elven features. But putting that aside, I feel that we should choose between the other two tasks, and offer to escort Genevieve to Noxolt regardless.”
“I see,” said the aasimar, “so it’s either the rebellion or the Node.”
Tolly snorted. “I know which one Kyle wants to do, though I can’t imagine why you’d want to spend so much time manipulating Shadow.”
“I have my reasons,” Kyle said. “And I’ll admit it, I do want to help with the Node, because I want to know how to do it myself. I really, really want to know. But, we’re not here for my needs. If we choose to help quell the rebellion, then that’s what we choose.”
“We don’t even know what the civil war is about,” Arrie pointed out. “Maybe the incorporeals have their reasons for rebelling.”
“Or maybe the rebellion can be dealt with through diplomacy,” Tolly added.
“I think we should choose the Node,” Autumn said. “It seems to involve fewer ethical questions.”
“If he’s needing items, I might be able to help acquire them,” Osborn said.
“If you don’t mind my saying so,” Crystal chimed in, “you might consider the ramifications of having an undead necromancer who has control of a Shadow Node.”
“Ooh, good point,” Lanara said.
“And we don’t know what his ‘research’ is going to entail, or what ‘materials’ he might need,” Tolly said. “There could be more ethical problems with the Node than the rebellion.”
“Why not just choose Genevieve as our task, then?” Lanara asked. “Then the onus is on Morladim to choose the other task.”
“Because that one does seem simple,” Osborn said, “and if we choose it then Morladim may think that we’re really not willing to go to any extraordinary effort to prove ourselves to him.”
“Perhaps we should offer to do all three up front,” Autumn suggested. “We could split the tasks to get them done faster.”
Tolly and Lanara shook their heads. “Do you really want to be split up in the Dark Hills?” Lanara asked.
“We need to work from a position of strength if we end up dealing with the incorporeal undead. And retrieving the items for Morladim’s research may require all of us as well. Remember what it took when I had to go fetch a few diamonds from the desert for Archprelate Jerome.”
“It seems that we were starting to lean toward the Node,” Arrie said. “Should we just go ahead and choose that one?”
The party agreed, and returned to Morladim’s throne. “We would be honored to assist you in your arcane research, my lord,” Lanara announced.
“Very well. Then I would also have you deal with the uprising among the ghosts. I will ask you to do this first, as once the rebellion is quelled my research can continue uninterrupted. In addition, there is a gem field in the territory of the ghosts that produces black sapphires, which is one of the items I will require for the Node. Obtaining them will be much easier when the principality is under control.”
“May we have a day to prepare, my lord?” Lanara asked.
“Of course, take your time.”
“If I may ask,” Tolly said, “what is the reason for the rebellion?”
Morladim leaned back in his throne. “Among my subjects, I demand a certain level of self-control. Many of us feed on mortal misery and suffering to some extent or another, but we have the capacity to control our appetites until they absolutely must be satisfied. I also maintain strict population controls among those undead who are capable of creating more like themselves. In this way, I ensure the survival of my kingdom, keeping my subjects from starving, and keeping the living from being terrorized to the point that they either flee, or organize and present a threat to my lands. The denizens of the incorporeal principality have decided to ignore my laws, and are feeding and reproducing at their whim, gorging themselves like gluttons on the nightmares of nearby settlements. It is not how a civilized society should behave. They have dispatched what military forces I had in the area.”
“Do they have a single leader?” Tolly asked.
“They do. He is a ghost, once a goblin warlord, named Baron Rebukkax. He was notable in life for being the only warlord to lead a successful goblin raid on a major Tlaxan city – Praxos, to be specific. Rather an impressive feat, since Praxos was and is the home of most of the Empire’s naval strength. The reason his spirit lingered in this world is anger over the fact that he was never able to finish sacking the city.”
“Hey,” Arrie said quietly to her sister, “have the Taurics taken Praxos yet? If they have, I say we go ahead and let this Rebukkax sack it. It’d be poetic.”
“No, they haven’t,” Autumn whispered back. “Unfortunately.”
“Baron Rebukkax’s rank and file tend to be shadows, with some wraiths and ghosts like himself,” Morladim continued as the two sisters giggled over their private joke. “A handful of cryptchanters, as well.”
“Any Callers in Darkness?” Tolly asked.
Morladim frowned. “No. Those have not been seen in Aelfenn since before the Cataclysm. I’m aware that my cousin Sauroth was able to bind one of those, though only the gods know where he found it. I will admit to knowing very little about the Callers – even I have my limits.”
The party knew, of course, that the Callers in Darkness possessed psionic abilities, one of the reasons they hadn’t been seen since the Cataclysm. They decided now wasn’t the best time for a history lesson.
“If you require assistance, I would be able to send a small force of intelligent undead with you.”
“That could be more dangerous to them,” Tolly said. “If it comes to battle, some of our capabilities may not discriminate between sides.”
“A good point,” Morladim conceded, “though you should know that some of those who have received my dark gift are priests of Erito, and retain their divine abilities.”
Kyle pulled Tolly aside for a moment. “It may be worth it,” he said.
“Why? We can handle this without the aid of the undead.”
“But there’s no reason to approach this stupidly. Morladim’s troops can deal with the lesser undead, leaving us to deal with the leadership.”
“You have a good point.” Tolly turned back to Morladim. “We’d be glad to accept whatever forces you have, and appreciate your generosity.”
“You are helping me,” Morladim replied, “there is no reason I should not help you. I will send one of my newer creations with you. He is still in thrall to me, so there will be no question of obedience.” Morladim nodded his head toward the party. “If you will excuse me, there are others I must see this evening. Tell Genevieve when you are ready to depart for Rebukkax’s lands.”
“My lord,” Arrie asked, “would Lady Genevieve be available to join us in the evenings? We’d like the opportunity to converse with her further.”
“Of course,” he said, and then dismissed them.
The Legacy bowed, and then turned and walked out of the grand audience chamber. As they passed the huge doors, they saw a creature there waiting for its chance to address the Vampire Prince. The creature looked like a rotting, decayed celestial, about ten feet tall.
“An Angel of Decay,” Tolly said to the unspoken question as soon as they were out of earshot. “I can’t recall anything about them other than their name, and I have a feeling I don’t really want to know too much about them.”
At some point late in the night, Tolly awoke. The fire had burned down to embers, and with no windows the room was pitch black. Tolly chanted the words to a simple light orison, and as the pale glow filled the room, he saw Genevieve sitting at the foot of his bed, watching him sleep.
“Good evening,” Tolly said.
“It could be,” she said coyly.
“What can we do for you, my lady?”
“‘We’?”
Tolly grimaced. “When you are in the position I hold in my church, you tend to start talking in ‘we’s. When you are in a leadership position of the Inquisition, you tend to think of yourself as one among many.”
Genevieve smiled. “I’m not here to find out about the Inquisition. I’m here to find out about you.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Tell me about yourself. Tell me what you enjoy, where have you been, what have you done, who have you known?”
“I’m relearning,” he said simply. “I’m a blacksmith by trade, a member of the Legacy by association and a love for them.”
“Love?” she said, smiling. “Love can be a very powerful emotion, and can show itself in many ways. The love between friends and companions in arms is very different from that shared by two lovers. Tell me, have you experienced that kind of love?”
Tolly felt a little uncomfortable, but at the same time had a hard time not answering her questions. His inquisitorial training had inured him to magical compulsions, so he didn’t fear that. But he couldn’t help but notice that Genevieve’s nightgown was very sheer, and that the plunging neckline was doing a poor job of covering her breasts.
“Once I felt the way you describe about a woman,” he admitted. Don’t think her name, he told himself, though at the moment he was having a difficult time conjuring up an image of Autumn’s face. “But she fell in love with another, who loves her as well. We are still close, but not in that way.”
“It must be so difficult for you,” Genevieve said, reaching out and tracing her fingernails across the back of his hand. “The women in your company are all quite lovely.”
“Two of them are married,” he said. “And one is my apprentice. The other…”
Genevieve arched her eyebrows.
“…it would not work well between us.”
Somehow, Genevieve had moved up closer to Tolly without him realizing it, and was now sitting next to him, leaning over him, brushing his hair out of his eyes with her fingers. “So difficult. It needn’t be that difficult… not tonight.”
Quickly, before his will gave in, Tolly focused on Genevieve’s aura. She radiated evil, but so did everything in this castle, so it was impossible to tell if it was her own aura he detected or that of the Dark Hills. The aura was so pervasive it even seemed like he himself was saturated with it. Normally, Tolly would have considered whether this would have an impact on his own spiritual wholeness, but now he was too busy kissing Genevieve to give the matter the proper attention.
After a few minutes, Tolly felt a gentle pressure on the nape of his neck, and then a small, sharp pain. He pulled away. “I have no wish to share your father’s dark gift, my lady,” he whispered.
“Nor do I,” she whispered back, “and nor will you.”
He didn’t detect any evasiveness in her reply, and so relaxed. She turned her attention back to his neck, and a moment later Tolly felt the sharp pain again. He was dimly aware of the sensation of Genevieve drawing blood from the wound… and moments later, it was over, and Genevieve’s attentions were in other places, and so were Tolly’s. He felt a little lightheaded, but he knew he had healing magic that could cure it as soon as she left.
She would not permit Tolly to bed her that first night, though neither of them ended the encounter unsatisfied. When they separated, Tolly laid back in his bed, listening to her rise and slip on her nightgown.
“It would be poor of me to leave you with your question unanswered,” she said from the darkness. “I would hate for it to ruin your memory of this night.”
“My question?” Tolly asked.
“The one you want to ask, but cannot think of how to do so without insulting me,” she laughed. “The answer is yes, because of my heritage I can feed as my father does, though I do not have to. And no, I do not carry within myself the ability to inflict the dark gift on anyone. For me, feeding on blood is more an act of… pleasure than of survival. I’m glad you were willing to trust me.”
“I’ve had no reason not to extend that trust,” he said. “You have been quite… generous.”
“Perhaps we could further discuss my generosity and yours tomorrow night?” Genevieve said.
“I could agree to that,” Tolly replied, “but I would also like the chance to actually talk, if I may be so bold.”
“Of course,” Genevieve laughed. “Tomorrow night, then? It will have to be late – my father informs me that I will be having dinner with your companions Ariadne and Autumn. I look forward to meeting with them… for entirely different reasons, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Sleep well, Tolly,” Genevieve said. And then, a moment later, Tolly heard the door open quietly and close again.
The Ardaran priest leaned back on his bed, staring into the darkness. He wondered how he would ever explain this evening to anyone in the church without ending up in front of an Inquisitorial tribunal. He decided that the Inquisition didn’t need to know everything.***
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* Maddie/Kavan and Xu, of course.
** Greater Anticipate Teleportation is a wonderful, wonderful spell. One of the few that Kyle will prepare and use every day.
*** I tape record all our sessions to write this story. Occasionally, in order to capture important side conversations, the DM will take the recorder with him to another room along with the player(s) involved. Listening to the DM and Tolly's player trying to roleplay this seduction scene was... amusing. Let's just say I had to fill in a lot of detail here.
So, enough fiction already! Let's have a real update!
Another one of my longish ones, I'm afraid... though I doubt you'll mind that much.
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The two weeks of travel from the silver mine to Lord Morladim’s domain were far from uneventful. Though the party could have easily traveled there more quickly, they opted to take the slower overland route, not only because they didn’t want to alarm the Vampire Prince, but because they had no idea when or how Osborn would return to them, and didn’t want to risk leaving him stranded in the mountains with no way of following them.
On their first night of hiking through the mountains, the tranquility of the camp was broken by some sort of disagreement between Autumn and Kyle which resulted in the wizard storming off for several hours. Neither of them discussed the reasons for the conflict, but several hours later the rest of the party was again awakened by the apparent resolution of their differences. Two days later, the party again was disturbed early in the morning when Autumn suddenly called out from the tent she shared with Kyle, shouting for help.
Arrie and Tolly were halfway to the tent when they heard Aran’s voice in their minds; Stop, and wait. There is no danger. Autumn will explain soon.
Several minutes later, a bewildered looking Kyle was led out of the tent by Autumn, who directed him to a fallen log nearby and handed him a woodcutter’s hatchet, asking him if he would cut some firewood for them while she talked with her friends. Once he was occupied, Autumn came over to the rest of the group.
“We don’t need any firewood, you know,” Lanara commented.
“I know, but it keeps him busy for a while,” Autumn replied.
“Yeah, what exactly is Kyle’s problem?” Arrie asked. “He’s looking at us like we’re strangers.”
“Kyle has apparently asked Aran to perform a psionic operation on his mind, altering certain key memories and experiences to allow him to gain a better understanding of certain magical principles at the cost of losing other knowledge,” she explained. “But the process of reintegrating his memories will take a few days, and until then, Kyle won’t quite be himself.”
“Ardara preserve us,” Tolly muttered, shaking his head.
“Arrie, I’ll need to share your tent for a few days,” Autumn explained. “Kyle’s sort of reliving the last four years of his life, in a way. He doesn’t even remember us, because Aran had to start reworking his memories from the time he first entered the Tower as a student, before he knew any of us. I think that until he gets to the point where he remembers who I am and that we’re married, I should act as if we’re not husband and wife. From his perspective, it’d be like a woman he barely knows jumping into bed with him every night.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’d hate that,” Lanara quipped.
“I don’t want to cause any unnecessary shocks to his mind,” Autumn replied coolly.
“Too bad, you’re missing a great opportunity,” the bard said with a smirk. “By the time you got your hands on Kyle, most of his rough edges were smoothed out. Now he’s back down to the raw, unblemished farm boy he used to be. A lot of noblewomen I know go to a lot of trouble to get their hands on one of those.”
Autumn slapped her hand on her forehead. “I’m not having this conversation,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Why are the most intimate details of my personal life always the topic of discussion?” she said as she walked away.
“Okay, I think that’s enough teasing my sister,” Arrie said. “We should get moving, and keep an eye on Kyle. He’s probably going to be a bit unpredictable for a few days.”
As the party went about breaking camp, Arrie walked over to where Autumn stood. She was watching as Kyle, dressed in a simple sleeveless shirt and pants instead of his robes, split and corded the old tree. The sentinel chewed her lower lip thoughtfully as Arrie studied her face for a moment.
“Autumn,” Arrie said at last, “No.”
“I was just considering…”
“No, Autumn.”
“But…”
“No.”
Autumn sighed. “I know, I know.”
* * *
Kyle’s recovery went rapidly. By midday he had remembered enough that the party members were no longer strangers to him, and by that evening recalled being part of an adventuring group with them. There were some odd moments, such as when Kyle was reliving Tolly’s death at the hands of Sauroth’s flesh golem, or recalling Lanara being framed by Marrek for the theft of the Estranëan relic. He also seemed to have trouble with the fact that two people he knew should be around were nowhere to be seen*. And then there were the occasional outbursts that seemed to come from no memory any of the rest of the party shared, words or actions that even seemed to baffle Kyle. Autumn tried to explain, after an episode where Kyle snapped at Arrie and threatened to “devour her soul”, and then blinked, mumbled an apology, and wandered off.
“Aran told me that in order to perform the psychic reformation on the memories that Kyle wanted, he had to scan other wizards and sorcerers to get the information he needed,” she said. “He said that some bits of the personalities of those other mages might come out once in a while, but should ease off soon.”
“Good,” Arrie said, “because if he threatens to devour anything of mine again, I may have to perform a non-psychic reformation on his teeth.”
The next day was more difficult. Kyle was clearly starting to relive his growing affection for Autumn as well as his old conflicts with Tolly over her and over the ‘new’ threat of the psions. He became cold and gruff toward Tolly, and was practically hovering over Autumn. At one point, during a break in travel, Tolly and Autumn went off alone to have a private conversation. Autumn returned from the talk clearly not in a good mood, though she glossed it over when Lanara asked what was the matter. Kyle, however, stood up, and walked over to where Tolly was walking back into the camp. The wizard shouted at Tolly for upsetting Autumn, and seemed about ready to strike the priest, until Autumn and Arrie pulled him away and talked to him quietly. Tolly sat down next to Crystal and Lanara.
“I think I should leave soon, before things get truly unpleasant,” he said. “He hasn’t even reached the worst point of our old conflict.”
Lanara and Crystal both nodded at the mention of Tolly leaving, though the axani seemed less than pleased about it. Tolly had told the party that he’d been praying to Ardara for guidance for the past several days, and that lately he’d felt a strange compulsion to perform a brief pilgrimage. Tolly felt it was a message from his goddess.
“Sir,” Crystal began, “are you certain this is wise? Under the circumstances, you…”
“You’ll be fine, Crystal,” Tolly said, cutting off his apprentice. He knew the reasons for her apprehension. The strained relations between Crystal and Autumn had not improved over time, as he’d hoped they would; in fact, the discussion he’d just had with Autumn had been about that very fact, and the aasimar had made it very clear that she didn’t trust Crystal and that anything confirming her mistrust would be dealt with aggressively. Tolly was at a loss to explain the sentinel’s obstinacy, and even Arrie was hard-pressed to explain her sister’s reaction when he’d asked her opinion. Tolly could only hope that Crystal would continue to tread lightly around the volatile aasimar. He couldn’t count on Kyle being a calming influence on Autumn, at least not for a few more days yet.
Eventually everyone came back to the camp, and Kyle mumbled an apology to Tolly. After a restless night, the party awoke to find that Tolly had left.
“So that’s Tolly gone, Osborn still not back, and Kyle… not quite up to speed,” sighed Autumn. “It feels like we’re splintering apart, Arrie. I don’t like it.”
“Things are different now,” Arrie said. “We all have responsibilities and concerns outside the Legacy, things that divide our attention. You can’t tell me that if you had the chance, you wouldn’t slip off to Vargex right now, just to see how things are.”
“It’s true,” Autumn admitted.
“We’ve been apart for four months, and back together for a week. It’s going to be a bit rough before we get back in our old rhythms again. But we will. We did fine against those giants, right?”
“You’re right,” Autumn sighed. “I’m just anxious. We should be entering Lord Morladim’s domain tomorrow, and I hate not being at full strength.”
As Autumn predicted, the party crossed into the region known as the Dark Hills late the next day. Though there were no signs or markers at the border, they each felt a sudden inexplicable chill as they moved into Morladim’s domain. All around them, the shadows seemed darker, the foliage thinner, the wildlife more skittish. Autumn confirmed the presence of a faint miasma of evil all around them. Their encounters with packs of mindless undead became more frequent, running into one or sometimes two groups a day. By the second day of travel they came upon a path, though it was obviously not well used, and started to follow it, assuming it would eventually lead them to the Vampire Prince’s castle. They began to fly a banner showing Herion’s personal heraldry, to show their intentions were peaceful.
Tolly returned to the party about five days after he left. Quietly walking up to the group as they rested near the road, the priest sat down next to Kyle as if he’d been there the whole time. However, he quickly drew attention.
“You look different, Tolly,” Lanara said, summing up their thought nicely. For the past year or so, Tolly had been infusing his own body and spirit with the powers of elemental earth. As he’d done so, his skin had taken on a hard, rock-like appearance, and the hair on his head and beard had become coarse and wiry. But now his skin was smooth, though weathered, and his hair was soft and fluttered in the breeze.
“I have been reforged by Ardara,” he explained. “The path I had chosen once to serve my goddess was no longer suitable. I have now gained a deeper understanding of Her will.”
“Great,” said Lanara, “last time you got ‘reforged’ you were insufferable for weeks. Are you sure that you two got it right this time?”
Crystal bristled at the near-blasphemous comment, but Tolly only smiled. “I’ve learned to accept that in the pursuit of Law, one must often be willing to embrace change,” he replied. “As to whether we ‘got it right’, I can only say that I am but one of Ardara’s tools in Affon. As long as the tool is suited to the task, then all is as it should be. Should the task change, or should a new tool be required, then I will submit to Her needs again if need be.”
Tolly looked over at Kyle. “Speaking of change, and of being insufferable, how goes things with you?”
“Better,” he said. “My memories are back where they should be, though I’m still struggling with a few personality fragments that surface every once in a while. So ignore me if I say or do anything weird. I think I should be fine in a week or less.”
“Good. Then we should be on our way.”
They set off again, following the road to Morladim’s castle. The path widened and improved gradually into a road, though it was still obviously not used much. They passed the remnants of a few villages, long deserted, but saw no sign of any living beings, not that this was overly surprising to them. The oppressive air of the Dark Hills became stronger as they traveled, until Tolly and Autumn reported that the taint in the land was so pervasive that their innate ability to sense it was being overwhelmed. They were constantly accompanied by a cold, miserable drizzle of rain.
On the twelfth day since leaving the mine, Kyle suddenly called out a warning. “Teleporter arriving,” he said**. “Two travelers, one humanoid, one magically enhanced animal.” Kyle pointed at the ground in the middle of the party. “I’m diverting them to there.”
Seconds later, Osborn and Rupert reappeared in their midst without fanfare. Everyone lowered their weapons.
“Hi there!” Osborn said. “Miss me?”
“Always,” said Lanara. “What were you doing?”
“Oh, I just had to stop an assassination attempt on Emperor Haxtha,” the hin replied. “I’ll tell you about it later. You guys take care of those giants?”
“Of course,” Arrie replied.
“So, did your goddess touch you too?” Lanara asked. “Did Ladta ‘reshuffle your deck’ or something like that?”
“Not that I know of,” Osborn said, patting himself down to make sure nothing was out of place. “Why? What’s been going on? Where are we? Why is it so creepy? And what’s that sound?”
“Sound?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, sounds like several horses and a wagon or something, coming up the road,” he replied.
A moment later, Crystal nodded to confirm that she heard it too. Then, from a distant bend in the road, the party saw a black carriage being pulled by four black horses. The coachman was clad in black plate armor, and two outriders behind the carriage were similarly armored. One of the outriders carried a pennant with a vaguely familiar device on it; a black sunset over a green field.
“Morladim’s personal crest,” Lanara said. “Based on the heraldry of the Tlaxan Imperial Family.”
The party stood and waited for the carriage to approach, while Kyle quickly filled Osborn in on the events he’d missed and their current mission. The carriage pulled up next to the party and stopped, waiting for the horses to settle before the door opened and its occupant stepped out.
She was tall, and slender, and wore an elegant gown that was certainly not contemporary in style, but had a timeless quality that would not have been out of place in any noble court. The gown was flowing, and adorned with lace. The black satin of the dress contrasted sharply with the woman’s pale skin, though seemed to almost blend in with her raven-black hair, which cascaded loose and straight down her shoulders. She appeared human, though there were some small signs of elvish ancestry around her eyes. On first glance, she appeared no more than seventeen years of age. Reflexively, the party glanced up at the sun in the sky, which was obscured by heavy clouds but still obviously present. Then they noted other telltale signs – the slight flush to her cheek, the gentle rise and fall of her bosom.
“I am Lady Genevieve,” the woman said, taking in each of the members of the party with sparkling blue eyes. “Daughter of Morladim, lord of these lands. I welcome you to his domain. We have seen the banner you fly from the castle beyond these hills. What business would the Imperial Prince of Tlaxan have with the Dark Hills?”
Autumn stepped forward and bowed. “My Lady, I am Autumn Goodson, Duchess of Vargex in the Empire of Tlaxan. This is Imperial Princess Ariadne Verahannen of the Empire, Inquisitor Primus Tolly Nightsleaving of the Church of Ardara, Duke-Consort Kyle Goodson, Lanara Rahila, and Osborn Greenbottle.” No one commented on the fact that Autumn had left Crystal out of the introductions, though Tolly laid a reassuring hand on his apprentice’s shoulder. “We comprise the adventuring group known as The Legacy, and have been dispatched at the request of his Imperial Highness, Herion of Tlaxan, as a diplomatic envoy to your lord and father.”
“I do not know if my father has been expecting you specifically,” Genevieve said, “but we have been expecting guests for some time now. Rooms for ten were already prepared, though I see now that only seven will be required. I would welcome you to our lands, and invite you to the castle of my lord to share what hospitality we may provide. If you have been troubled by the mindless undead that wander the outskirts of my father’s domain, we apologize for this, and will make what reparations are necessary.”
“No reparations are required,” Lanara said, “and we gladly accept your invitation. How far is it to the castle?”
“Only an hour, if you don’t mind setting a brisk pace. But come, I tire of standing in the rain, as I am sure you do as well. Shall we be on our way?”
“Lead the way, My Lady,” Lanara replied.
“Would any of you care to join me in my carriage? There is room for some of you in here.”
Osborn looked down at Rupert, who was whining quietly and inching back from the carriage. Osborn noted that while Genevieve herself appeared alive, the coachman and outriders almost certainly were not. “I think I’ll stay out here. I want to ride.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I will also remain out here,” Arrie said. “I don’t mind the rain so much.”
“I’ll go with you!” Kyle said. “These frail old bones could use a rest.” Everyone stopped to look at the tall, broad-shouldered wizard. He paused, reviewing his words, and then shook his own head in disbelief before moving past Genevieve to enter the carriage. Autumn, watching as Kyle smiled at Morladim’s daughter as he climbed in, also decided to ride in the carriage. Lanara also accepted the invitation and climbed into the carriage, followed by Genevieve gracefully ascending behind her when no one else approached.
The carriage went farther down the road until it reached a point wide enough to turn around, and then made its way up the road back the way it came. Inside the carriage there was some attempt at small talk, with some effort by Lanara to gauge Morladim’s opinions on the war. They learned that the lord of the Dark Hills hadn’t concerned himself much with the Tauric invasion, as there had been little direct impact on them. As promised, the ride lasted about an hour before they drew within sight of Lord Morladim’s castle.
To call it a mere castle hardly did it justice. The huge walled structure enclosed an area that was easily half as large as the Imperial Palace complex in Noxolt. The main castle rose far above the complex, its many towers jutting like knives into the overcast sky. The carriage and the party rode through the massive iron gate in the outer wall unchallenged, and proceeded through a series of inner gates to the main castle. Several liveried servants, both living and undead, waited outside the carriage when they came to a halt.
Genevieve turned to the party after they had all gathered in the courtyard. “The servants will show you to the rooms that have been prepared for you. Dinner will be served in your rooms this evening, and I will escort you to my father’s throne room for an audience tonight after the sun has set.” With a swirl of black satin, Genevieve turned and walked into the castle, followed by a few servants.
“Well then,” Arrie said, “we may as well go in and freshen up for our audience.”
An old, wizened man shuffled up to the party. “If you will follow me,” the servant said wearily, “I will show you to your rooms.”
“Are the rooms all together?” Osborn asked.
“Yes, they are. Come with me please.” The old man began to shuffle off at an uncomfortably slow pace. Along the way, Autumn pulled Kyle aside.
“You certainly warmed up to Lady Genevieve quickly,” she commented.
“She’s charming,” Kyle said.
“I’m sure,” Autumn replied. “And pretty too. You were practically drooling.”
“I was not,” Kyle said indignantly.
“Here, you should take this,” Autumn said with a smile, handing him a handkerchief. “Wouldn’t want you to start drooling again when you see her and end up ruining your robes.”
Kyle sneered as he grabbed the handkerchief and then put some distance between himself and Autumn. The sentinel chuckled to herself, and then glanced at Lanara.
“After all the crap he’s put us through the past few days, I figure he deserves a little grief,” she said.
Their rooms were spacious, and plush, though somewhat gloomy due to the general lack of windows in the castle. A roaring fire was already burning in each room. After cleaning off the dirt of the trail and changing out of their armor and traveling clothes, the party gathered in Lanara’s room to discuss their strategy and pass the time until dinner.
“So, I’m sure the rest of you have already talked about this,” Osborn said, “but what do we know about this Morladim guy?”
“He’s a former merchant prince, and an ancestor of the Tlaxan Imperial Family,” Lanara said. “A cousin, sort of like Sauroth was. Same interest in necromancy, too, though Morladim was a sorcerer, not a wizard. If he were alive, Morladim would rank just under Herion in status – you tend to drop a couple of notches in the hierarchy if you become undead.”
“How’d he become a vampire?” Osborn asked.
“The stories say it was deliberate on his part,” Lanara answered. “He sought immortality, but decided against lichdom, as it would not only take decades of study to master the ritual, but the process would ruin his looks. He’s supposed to be very handsome. The rumor is that he allowed himself to be seduced by a vampire, but had already arranged for his mistress to be destroyed shortly afterward, so that he wouldn’t be under her thrall.”
“What do we know about his principality?” the hin asked.
“Well, first of all, understand that even though people outside the land refer to Morladim as the Vampire Prince, he’s only ever gone by Lord Morladim. The Dark Hills have never been formally recognized as an independent nation, though their existence has never been challenged either. So technically it’s not a principality.”
Lanara continued with her lecture. “It’s well known that several clerics of Erito serve under Morladim, and several of them have been turned into vampires in exchange for their loyalty. He’s organized the Dark Hills into a sort of kingdom, with various undead creatures holding lands of their own and serving Morladim as his ‘vassal’. No one knows for sure how many undead or what kinds live in the Dark Hills, because Morladim keeps a pretty tight control on them and doesn’t let them rampage through nearby towns. The majority of Morladim’s subjects are intelligent undead – there are relatively few skeletons and zombies, and from what Genevieve said when we met her, I’d guess they see them as much of a nuisance as we do. Obviously there are some vampires here, as well as a lot of ghosts and wraiths and other incorporeal undead. I’ve heard there are at least a dozen nightshades that wander around as well.”
“What are we offering him for an alliance?” Osborn asked.
“No idea. He’s not going to be interested in money, land, titles, or any of that stuff. I figure he knows why we’re here, so we’ll let him name some terms and go from there.”
A couple of hours later, dinner was served. The meal was bland and hardly remarkable, but since it was assumed that the castle staff didn’t get much practice in cooking, no one raised much of a fuss. Later, after the sun had set (or at that was assumed, since no one had a window to check this), there was a knock on each of their doors, and Lady Genevieve greeted them.
“My father awaits you in his audience chamber,” she said. “Come, I will escort you.”
The party followed Genevieve down a labyrinthine series of long hallways, until they came to a set of large bronze and silver doors engraved with Morladim’s crest. The doors seemed to open of their own accord, allowing them access to an enormous room, at least a hundred yards long. A thick red carpet ran the length of the room. Huge marble columns supported a buttressed roof above their heads, upon which was painted a fresco of what at first appeared to be men and women of various races cavorting together. But when they looked at it closely, they saw that in fact several of the revelers were in fact vampires, feeding on their enraptured victims. Though the figures showed no sign of discomfort, and there was not a trace of blood or gore, the scene was still disturbing to look upon.
A large throne, carved from basalt, dominated the far end of the room. Seated upon the throne was a striking figure in elegant, if somewhat dated clothes. The elven vampire had black hair, which he wore loose as it tumbled gently across his shoulders and down his back. Piercing blue eyes were set into a flawless face with high cheekbones and dark, sensuous lips. Morladim seemed utterly at ease, and utterly in control of himself and all around him.
Genevieve introduced the party members one by one, and Morladim nodded to each in turn, offering a brief comment or compliment to each. When his eyes fell on Kyle, the wizard suddenly yelped and hid behind Autumn, but then a second later stepped out, embarrassed, and bowed his head respectfully to Morladim. When the vampire then acknowledged Autumn, offering her a compliment on her beauty and her skill in battle, the sentinel could only mumble her thanks, as she stared wide-eyed at the stunning man.
Behind her, Kyle quietly handed Autumn a handkerchief. She kicked him in the shin.
“Welcome to my domain, noble emissaries,” Morladim said. “I hope my servants have seen to your needs while you awaited this audience.”
“They have, thank you,” Lanara said. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
“It is so rare that we have visitors,” Morladim commented.
“You are a bit out of the way,” Tolly replied.
“Which is probably one reason. Tell me, what exactly has brought you all this way, flying the banner of an Imperial Prince? I am impressed that my cousins have finally sent a delegation to me again after all these years.”
“From what I understand from your daughter Genevieve, the current war in Tlaxan has not touched you here, am I correct?”
“Not very much, no.”
Lanara considered for a moment. “Would you prefer that we be formal, or honest?”
Morladim laughed. “Let’s try honest, and see how it goes.”
“As you wish,” Lanara said. “We’re here on a diplomatic mission to negotiate with you concerning the well-being of the continent upon which we all live. Specifically, the Empire of Tlaxan would like to negotiate for a formal alliance with you to aid them in their war with the Tauric Empire. The resources at your command would be invaluable in this effort.”
“So you wish to buy my troops and support,” Morladim said.
“Essentially, yes.”
“Well, I do have a considerable amount of resources at my disposal,” Morladim said, smiling. “Resources that the current government of Tlaxan is sorely lacking. I can certainly see how it would be advantageous to them in this situation. However, I have my own concerns. A few… domestic issues, if you will.”
Lanara could see where this was going. “Such is the burden of all who lead, my lord.”
“I imagine that the Emperor wants to offer me a few concessions, a bit of this or that, a few trinkets,” Morladim continued. “I really could care less about that.”
“Then it may be best to simply ask what it is you want,” Tolly said.
“First, I want to know that the emissaries that have been sent to me are ones who would honor me, not simply flatter me. I would hope that the Empire would have sent representatives whose talents were reflective of their respect for me and my position.”
In other words, did they send people who could do a little work on my behalf, Lanara thought. She’d wondered why Herion hadn’t sent a normal diplomatic envoy; she understood now that the prince had probably anticipated Morladim’s needs.
“Before I will enter into negotiations with the Empire, I have tasks I would ask you to perform on my behalf.”
“Such as?” Lanara asked.
“Well, I certainly would not ask you to take care of all my concerns; that would simply be rude. There are three issues of greatest concern to me currently. I will name these concerns, and allow you to choose one that you wish to aid me with. I will then choose one concern of my own that I would have your assistance to rectify. Once those two tasks are complete, I will negotiate an alliance with you. I will tell you in advance that I will have but one condition for the Emperor to meet to agree to aid him in this war, which I will reveal to you when negotiations have formally begun. I assume you have the means to communicate my terms to the Emperor swiftly.”
“What tasks would you set for us?” Tolly asked.
“The first task concerns one of my vassalages. As you know, I run the Dark Hills as a kingdom, though I would not presume to call myself a king. Among my vassals is the domain of the incorporeal undead – ghosts, wraiths, shadows and the like. That principality is currently in rebellion. Their ruler has declared a civil war against me. As you can imagine, given the nature of these rebels, it is somewhat difficult for the ghouls and vampire thralls under my command to deal with this problem.”
“A bit hard for them to sink their teeth into the problem,” Tolly summed up.
“Precisely. The first task I would offer as a choice is to quell their uprising. The second task would be to assist me with a unique opportunity to perform something never before attempted in the arcane arts. I would imagine that you have all heard of, and perhaps even encountered the various elemental and arcane Nodes of Aelfenn. After centuries of research, I believe it is possible to create a Shadow Node.”
Behind Autumn, Kyle made a gasping noise. A moment later, he took the handkerchief back from his wife.
“My second task would be to assist me in research and gathering materials. The third task is actually one that would be performed after our negotiations have concluded. You have all met my daughter Genevieve. By now you are aware that she has not had the dark gift of vampirism bestowed upon her. She is, however, a member of the Imperial family through my blood, and deserves to be treated as such. My third task would be to have you escort Genevieve back to the Imperial Court in Tlaxan, there to receive all of the schooling and benefits entitled her.”
Morladim smiled at the party. “Which task will you choose? You may withdraw and discuss your options privately.”
The party pulled back a few feet. “I’m not sure we have the time to embroil ourselves in a civil war,” Tolly said immediately, “but neither do we have time to spend on arcane research. As for the third task, it seems deceptively simple, but at the same time it seems like something that it would be right and proper to do anyway.”
“It does seem that way,” Autumn agreed.
“I am somewhat wary about taking Genevieve back to Noxolt, however, given the proximity of the Tauric army.”
“Well, the location of the Imperial Palace and the location of the Imperial Court aren’t always the same,” Arrie pointed out.
“Good point. I think we should introduce Genevieve to Aralda.”
Arrie frowned. “I’m going to be somewhat protective of Aralda here. We don’t know anything about Genevieve. I’d like to get to know her a little bit before deciding who to introduce her to.”
“And their interests may not mesh well,” Kyle pointed out. “Remember that Aralda’s a druid, and that Genevieve comes from a necromantic background, even if she isn’t undead herself.”
“Yeah, how does that work exactly?” Osborn asked. “How can she be his daughter?”
“A vampire that has gorged themselves on blood can cause some of their bodily functions to begin working again,” Tolly said. “Lord Morladim very well could have seduced and impregnated a human woman. Genevieve does bear some elven features. But putting that aside, I feel that we should choose between the other two tasks, and offer to escort Genevieve to Noxolt regardless.”
“I see,” said the aasimar, “so it’s either the rebellion or the Node.”
Tolly snorted. “I know which one Kyle wants to do, though I can’t imagine why you’d want to spend so much time manipulating Shadow.”
“I have my reasons,” Kyle said. “And I’ll admit it, I do want to help with the Node, because I want to know how to do it myself. I really, really want to know. But, we’re not here for my needs. If we choose to help quell the rebellion, then that’s what we choose.”
“We don’t even know what the civil war is about,” Arrie pointed out. “Maybe the incorporeals have their reasons for rebelling.”
“Or maybe the rebellion can be dealt with through diplomacy,” Tolly added.
“I think we should choose the Node,” Autumn said. “It seems to involve fewer ethical questions.”
“If he’s needing items, I might be able to help acquire them,” Osborn said.
“If you don’t mind my saying so,” Crystal chimed in, “you might consider the ramifications of having an undead necromancer who has control of a Shadow Node.”
“Ooh, good point,” Lanara said.
“And we don’t know what his ‘research’ is going to entail, or what ‘materials’ he might need,” Tolly said. “There could be more ethical problems with the Node than the rebellion.”
“Why not just choose Genevieve as our task, then?” Lanara asked. “Then the onus is on Morladim to choose the other task.”
“Because that one does seem simple,” Osborn said, “and if we choose it then Morladim may think that we’re really not willing to go to any extraordinary effort to prove ourselves to him.”
“Perhaps we should offer to do all three up front,” Autumn suggested. “We could split the tasks to get them done faster.”
Tolly and Lanara shook their heads. “Do you really want to be split up in the Dark Hills?” Lanara asked.
“We need to work from a position of strength if we end up dealing with the incorporeal undead. And retrieving the items for Morladim’s research may require all of us as well. Remember what it took when I had to go fetch a few diamonds from the desert for Archprelate Jerome.”
“It seems that we were starting to lean toward the Node,” Arrie said. “Should we just go ahead and choose that one?”
The party agreed, and returned to Morladim’s throne. “We would be honored to assist you in your arcane research, my lord,” Lanara announced.
“Very well. Then I would also have you deal with the uprising among the ghosts. I will ask you to do this first, as once the rebellion is quelled my research can continue uninterrupted. In addition, there is a gem field in the territory of the ghosts that produces black sapphires, which is one of the items I will require for the Node. Obtaining them will be much easier when the principality is under control.”
“May we have a day to prepare, my lord?” Lanara asked.
“Of course, take your time.”
“If I may ask,” Tolly said, “what is the reason for the rebellion?”
Morladim leaned back in his throne. “Among my subjects, I demand a certain level of self-control. Many of us feed on mortal misery and suffering to some extent or another, but we have the capacity to control our appetites until they absolutely must be satisfied. I also maintain strict population controls among those undead who are capable of creating more like themselves. In this way, I ensure the survival of my kingdom, keeping my subjects from starving, and keeping the living from being terrorized to the point that they either flee, or organize and present a threat to my lands. The denizens of the incorporeal principality have decided to ignore my laws, and are feeding and reproducing at their whim, gorging themselves like gluttons on the nightmares of nearby settlements. It is not how a civilized society should behave. They have dispatched what military forces I had in the area.”
“Do they have a single leader?” Tolly asked.
“They do. He is a ghost, once a goblin warlord, named Baron Rebukkax. He was notable in life for being the only warlord to lead a successful goblin raid on a major Tlaxan city – Praxos, to be specific. Rather an impressive feat, since Praxos was and is the home of most of the Empire’s naval strength. The reason his spirit lingered in this world is anger over the fact that he was never able to finish sacking the city.”
“Hey,” Arrie said quietly to her sister, “have the Taurics taken Praxos yet? If they have, I say we go ahead and let this Rebukkax sack it. It’d be poetic.”
“No, they haven’t,” Autumn whispered back. “Unfortunately.”
“Baron Rebukkax’s rank and file tend to be shadows, with some wraiths and ghosts like himself,” Morladim continued as the two sisters giggled over their private joke. “A handful of cryptchanters, as well.”
“Any Callers in Darkness?” Tolly asked.
Morladim frowned. “No. Those have not been seen in Aelfenn since before the Cataclysm. I’m aware that my cousin Sauroth was able to bind one of those, though only the gods know where he found it. I will admit to knowing very little about the Callers – even I have my limits.”
The party knew, of course, that the Callers in Darkness possessed psionic abilities, one of the reasons they hadn’t been seen since the Cataclysm. They decided now wasn’t the best time for a history lesson.
“If you require assistance, I would be able to send a small force of intelligent undead with you.”
“That could be more dangerous to them,” Tolly said. “If it comes to battle, some of our capabilities may not discriminate between sides.”
“A good point,” Morladim conceded, “though you should know that some of those who have received my dark gift are priests of Erito, and retain their divine abilities.”
Kyle pulled Tolly aside for a moment. “It may be worth it,” he said.
“Why? We can handle this without the aid of the undead.”
“But there’s no reason to approach this stupidly. Morladim’s troops can deal with the lesser undead, leaving us to deal with the leadership.”
“You have a good point.” Tolly turned back to Morladim. “We’d be glad to accept whatever forces you have, and appreciate your generosity.”
“You are helping me,” Morladim replied, “there is no reason I should not help you. I will send one of my newer creations with you. He is still in thrall to me, so there will be no question of obedience.” Morladim nodded his head toward the party. “If you will excuse me, there are others I must see this evening. Tell Genevieve when you are ready to depart for Rebukkax’s lands.”
“My lord,” Arrie asked, “would Lady Genevieve be available to join us in the evenings? We’d like the opportunity to converse with her further.”
“Of course,” he said, and then dismissed them.
The Legacy bowed, and then turned and walked out of the grand audience chamber. As they passed the huge doors, they saw a creature there waiting for its chance to address the Vampire Prince. The creature looked like a rotting, decayed celestial, about ten feet tall.
“An Angel of Decay,” Tolly said to the unspoken question as soon as they were out of earshot. “I can’t recall anything about them other than their name, and I have a feeling I don’t really want to know too much about them.”
* * *
At some point late in the night, Tolly awoke. The fire had burned down to embers, and with no windows the room was pitch black. Tolly chanted the words to a simple light orison, and as the pale glow filled the room, he saw Genevieve sitting at the foot of his bed, watching him sleep.
“Good evening,” Tolly said.
“It could be,” she said coyly.
“What can we do for you, my lady?”
“‘We’?”
Tolly grimaced. “When you are in the position I hold in my church, you tend to start talking in ‘we’s. When you are in a leadership position of the Inquisition, you tend to think of yourself as one among many.”
Genevieve smiled. “I’m not here to find out about the Inquisition. I’m here to find out about you.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Tell me about yourself. Tell me what you enjoy, where have you been, what have you done, who have you known?”
“I’m relearning,” he said simply. “I’m a blacksmith by trade, a member of the Legacy by association and a love for them.”
“Love?” she said, smiling. “Love can be a very powerful emotion, and can show itself in many ways. The love between friends and companions in arms is very different from that shared by two lovers. Tell me, have you experienced that kind of love?”
Tolly felt a little uncomfortable, but at the same time had a hard time not answering her questions. His inquisitorial training had inured him to magical compulsions, so he didn’t fear that. But he couldn’t help but notice that Genevieve’s nightgown was very sheer, and that the plunging neckline was doing a poor job of covering her breasts.
“Once I felt the way you describe about a woman,” he admitted. Don’t think her name, he told himself, though at the moment he was having a difficult time conjuring up an image of Autumn’s face. “But she fell in love with another, who loves her as well. We are still close, but not in that way.”
“It must be so difficult for you,” Genevieve said, reaching out and tracing her fingernails across the back of his hand. “The women in your company are all quite lovely.”
“Two of them are married,” he said. “And one is my apprentice. The other…”
Genevieve arched her eyebrows.
“…it would not work well between us.”
Somehow, Genevieve had moved up closer to Tolly without him realizing it, and was now sitting next to him, leaning over him, brushing his hair out of his eyes with her fingers. “So difficult. It needn’t be that difficult… not tonight.”
Quickly, before his will gave in, Tolly focused on Genevieve’s aura. She radiated evil, but so did everything in this castle, so it was impossible to tell if it was her own aura he detected or that of the Dark Hills. The aura was so pervasive it even seemed like he himself was saturated with it. Normally, Tolly would have considered whether this would have an impact on his own spiritual wholeness, but now he was too busy kissing Genevieve to give the matter the proper attention.
After a few minutes, Tolly felt a gentle pressure on the nape of his neck, and then a small, sharp pain. He pulled away. “I have no wish to share your father’s dark gift, my lady,” he whispered.
“Nor do I,” she whispered back, “and nor will you.”
He didn’t detect any evasiveness in her reply, and so relaxed. She turned her attention back to his neck, and a moment later Tolly felt the sharp pain again. He was dimly aware of the sensation of Genevieve drawing blood from the wound… and moments later, it was over, and Genevieve’s attentions were in other places, and so were Tolly’s. He felt a little lightheaded, but he knew he had healing magic that could cure it as soon as she left.
She would not permit Tolly to bed her that first night, though neither of them ended the encounter unsatisfied. When they separated, Tolly laid back in his bed, listening to her rise and slip on her nightgown.
“It would be poor of me to leave you with your question unanswered,” she said from the darkness. “I would hate for it to ruin your memory of this night.”
“My question?” Tolly asked.
“The one you want to ask, but cannot think of how to do so without insulting me,” she laughed. “The answer is yes, because of my heritage I can feed as my father does, though I do not have to. And no, I do not carry within myself the ability to inflict the dark gift on anyone. For me, feeding on blood is more an act of… pleasure than of survival. I’m glad you were willing to trust me.”
“I’ve had no reason not to extend that trust,” he said. “You have been quite… generous.”
“Perhaps we could further discuss my generosity and yours tomorrow night?” Genevieve said.
“I could agree to that,” Tolly replied, “but I would also like the chance to actually talk, if I may be so bold.”
“Of course,” Genevieve laughed. “Tomorrow night, then? It will have to be late – my father informs me that I will be having dinner with your companions Ariadne and Autumn. I look forward to meeting with them… for entirely different reasons, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Sleep well, Tolly,” Genevieve said. And then, a moment later, Tolly heard the door open quietly and close again.
The Ardaran priest leaned back on his bed, staring into the darkness. He wondered how he would ever explain this evening to anyone in the church without ending up in front of an Inquisitorial tribunal. He decided that the Inquisition didn’t need to know everything.***
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* Maddie/Kavan and Xu, of course.
** Greater Anticipate Teleportation is a wonderful, wonderful spell. One of the few that Kyle will prepare and use every day.
*** I tape record all our sessions to write this story. Occasionally, in order to capture important side conversations, the DM will take the recorder with him to another room along with the player(s) involved. Listening to the DM and Tolly's player trying to roleplay this seduction scene was... amusing. Let's just say I had to fill in a lot of detail here.
