The Celestial Empire (Romance of the Three Kingdoms-ish, Updated 12/09/05)

[Emperor Valerian]

Into the Lion’s Den... or Harem...

I cannot believe it is physically possible to wear this.

Felonca looked down at the clothes that now only occassionally covered her body, and grimaced. She had expected having to wear something skimpy, but she hadn’t expected something that was utterly ridiculous.

Frills... for the love of my Aunt Lu... Frills! She twisted herself awkwardly from side to side in the dim light of the thieves guild headquarters, and the frills flew about. Red silk she could stand, but frills... Golden, sparkly, and annoying. She frowned again and gave a sigh of resignation, before gathering up her warfans, their deadly forms now giving off scents of roses and cinnamon. Another grimace.

I suppose those smells will lure them into letting me carrying my fans with me, she thought, practicing an innocent blinking of her eyes, before the scowl returned again.

At least I’m not Meiji. Her mind immediately went even more sour, thinking about the plans from the meeting the night before. It had been agreed that as the most powerful spellcaster present, Nayu would go lead the ambush against Yi Mang. Yari Ai had balked at going into a harem (as Felonca wished she could), so she went with Nayu. Selim, after ‘selling’ Felonca, Meiji and the third rogue to the palace, would then go join the ambush. The arrangement made so much sense... but that didn’t mean that Felonca was pleased with it.

Sure, Meiji seemed rather useless in formal combat. But Meiji’s being sent into a harem posed other... issues.

He’s a skirt-chaser! And now we’re putting him in a place where there ARE NO SKIRTS EVEN!? She hissed to herself at the thought. Meiji himself could want to behave –she would make sure of that, and threats of skinning would make him think twice before jumping a harem girl- she just wasn’t sure his body would... and anything “turning up” would be a deadly giveaway...

Once again, she wondered how exactly Selim was going to pull off this “transformation.” As if her ancestors had heard her problem, she heard two pairs of feet entering the room. One had a confident, striding gait. The other sounded as if someone was stumbling about on their tiptoes.

Great... so here he is... She turned slowly, expecting something horrible.

And then she burst out laughing.

“Stop it!” Meiji half hissed, his voice higher than normal. His dress was obviously not as revealing, but somehow the snickering Selim next to him had jury rigged breasts the size of watermelons on the poor panther. The makeup placed on the young man’s face was almost clownish, and his enormous fake bosom was creating balance issues. In short, he looked like the ugliest excuse for a female Felonca had ever seen. As Meiji tried to walk forward, he half stumbled... it seemed as if his legs were constrained.

“It hurts,” he complained.

“That’s to keep you from ‘raising the alarm,’” Selim continued to snicker. The rogue then told Felonca, “I took some rather tight wraps that some of our female rogues use for pretending to be men, and wrapped up his hips.” Another smirk towards the hapless Meiji. “It makes him look more dainty!”

“W..who would want to buy that?” Felonca pointed, trying hard not to laugh. It was a losing battle.

“I’m gonna tell them you all are a batched triplet,” Selim then jutted a thumb towards Meiji. “I need to get him, I mean her, I mean it, off of my hands,” Selim grinned as Meiji tried to walk towards him, and was forced by the constraints into a tiptoe.

“I resent that!” his voice half hissed.

“So, what is Meiji armed with in your arrangement, besides a pair of enormous...”

“Well,” Selim cut her off, “they won’t fool anyone that actually tries to touch them or anything, but at a glance they look real.” He then pointed to the canyon between the unholy appendages. “And the cleavage was big enough that we could hide a dagger there.”

As Felonca burst out laughing again, and Meiji scowled even more, Selim motioned for them to follow him.

“Mai Lin is already outside. We should move.”



It was some time later that Felonca watched the markets fall away as Selim’s cart entered the central plaza of the city. Beside her sat the still uncomfortable Meiji, who was hosting only a partial grimace. On the far side of the cart sat a young, rather ordinary looking woman, clad much as Felonca was. Her exposed body was thin, but wiry, as a coiled spring. For now, Mai Lin’s eyes were blank, as she too stared off into the markets.

She’s hardly spoken, even after Selim said who I was, Felonca thought as a shadow fell over the cart. They were nearing the outer wall. I wonder what’s on her mind?

The rogue turned and looked up, and she managed to not grimace too badly when she noted the outside wall was easily 15 feet high, and the same thick at its base. The canter of horses echoed off the gatehouse cobblestones until Selim reined up the horses pulling the cart.

Here goes... Felonca thought, purposefully looking down in the cart, her brash personality put aside, hidden, in favor of meekness. Despite her looks, her ears carefully tracked the conversation going on in front of them...

“Selim! It is good to see you back in business again!” a voice asked, likely belonging to one of the guards. “In the five years since you last came, the quality of girls has dropped off! I am sure the governor will be pleased to hear you’re returning to work.”

“He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” she heard Selim reply quietly.

“Either way, let’s see what we’ve got.” Footsteps coming around the cart. “You! Look up!”

Instinctively Felonca knew the call was directed at her, and slowly she looked up. Meek! Meek! she shouted to herself, praying her eyes didn’t betray her anger at being called so rudely. The guard was hard to see... he wore white robes, and a white turban and scarf that covered everything save his eyes. They beamed at her, eyeing her as more a piece of meat than as a person. After a second, he turned, and she heard the clank of armor under the robes.

“What in blazes!?” his eyes went wide as he looked at Meiji. He spun back towards Selim, beyond Felonca’s sight. “Selim! Your quality is going down! The two girls in silks are quite catching, but this...” he waved an arm disgustedly, “is... like a bloated crocodile with makeup!”

Before Meiji could complain, Felonca shot him a quick, deadly stare. He said nothing.

“Its hard restarting again from scratch,” she heard Selim say, “and I need to unload this’n. These three come as a package... take ‘em or leave ‘em. I’m sure the fat broad can be used as a stablegirl or something.”

The guard captain snorted. “If she doesn’t eat the horses first! Bah!” Now, a smile. “The governor’s been growing weary of the current harem girls... he had a few of them executed for entertainment only two months ago. I’m sure he’d appreciate two new toys...” Now a glare at Meiji. “Even if they are accompanied by a beached whale.”

“Payment in the usual place?”

“Yes. Good to see you again, Selim.”

The cart once again was on its way, clattering over the cobblestones under the gate, and then over a wide stone bridge. Free from being close to the guards, Felonca looked about, and noticed two alarming facts.

Firstly, the inner wall looked to be at least 25 feet high, with a steep slope. Its red stone walls were unfortunately in excellent repair... which meant there would be perilously few handholds. Secondly, she looked out at the inner moat she’d expected to find.

Lily pads covered its surface, even as the stink of standing water filled the air. However, she noticed that underneath the lilies and algae, a dark shape moved... quickly, almost imperceptibly. For all she knew, it was just a large koi... or, it could be something more menacing.

“Selim? Do you know if the governor has anything...um... predatory in the moat?” she whispered as they neared the middle of the bridge.

“My father told me when I was a child that there were crocodiles here.” The old rogue then barked a short laugh. “But that was when I was a little thing, and he told me they threw misbehaving boys in here!”

Felonca didn’t share his humor. I know I saw a shape! She had no intentions of finding out whether Selim’s father had told an old fairy-tale, or if she’d be on a menu the minute she was in this water. She then looked to the opposite side of the cart.

Off in the distance, in the southeast corner of the complex, were a series of small islands in the midst of the moat. Even from a great distance, she could see the beautiful trees, plants, and fowl that dotted the three tiny parcels of land. More importantly, she saw a series of small, brightly painted bridges leading from the inner wall to the outermost of the islands, which looked to be only ten feet from the shore that held the outer wall...

I think I found our escape route...



When they had crossed the bridge, guards lifted Felonca, Meiji and Yari Ai off of the cart, and tossed Selim a bag of gold for his trouble. When his cart rattled back across the bridge, Felonca realized just how deep into this she was... and she shuddered.

The guards led them through an annex of the audience hall, and into the inner courtyard of the palace complex. Directly in the center was a lake, and in its midst, a two story building, elegantly designed and constructed, from which the smells of incense, myrrh, and spices wafted through the air.

Felonca gulped as she saw there was only one bridge into the building.

Dammit! Alright... where is the governor in relation to the harem building? Think, think...

Her mined winced, and she decided there was only one way to get the information. Putting on her best act, she let out a shy giggle, and blinked at one of the accompanying guards.

“Hee hee hee,” she twittered lightly, “I wonder where my new lord and master resides?” she half whispered, her head down by her eyes coyly looking directly at one of the guards.

To her relief, the guard’s face turned a slight tinge of red, and he motioned quickly to the large, low building behind the harem as the governor’s palace.

Ah... so just across the bridge then... hmm... Even as her mind planned, Felonca made herself giggle again.

"Hee hee hee... I hope to spend a great deal of my stay there!" she giggled, and both the escorting guards started to laugh.

"My... Selim brought in a feisty one! I might sneak in and try to get some!" the blushing guard whispered to his companion.

Felonca resisted the urge to reach up and check her hairpins, and the darts held within covered with scorpion venom.

Oh... you don't have a clue how feisty I am!

 

[ThoughtfulOwl]

And did I just see a Mel Brooks' history of the world reference in there?

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Certainly looks like Felonca's going to have fun .

Excuse my ignorance here, but is Felonca recognisable as hengeyokai when in human form? I seem to recall a reference to vertically slitted eyes, but are there any other clues?

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Yes, I guess there was a Mel Brooks reference, even if it wasn't intentional!

Well, according to the Oriental Adventures, hengeyokai keep some traits of their particular breed (for lack of a better term) while in human form. Fine whiskers, a certain skin coloring, etc. Since regular cat hengeyokai had whiskers taken, I just assumed Felonca's would be her eyes and naturally dark skin... so yes, they'd know she was a hengeyokai, but considering hengeyokai are not all that uncommon, it wouldn't be viewed as anything suspicious.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Felonca Gets Used to Life on Pillows, and Nayu Faces a Green Man

Felonca and her companions found themselves taken into the beautiful pavilion in the midst of the lake, and rising up several sets of elegantly carved stairs. Within the cold halls of the harem, she found marble floors, silk draperies, and jade statues of various animals. After the first set of guards took them to a rather small room that held four bunks (their new “quarters”), a pair of red turbaned guards arrived, escorting them to the common room of the harem...

“Why does every harem have a room with a ridiculous amount of pillows?” Meiji whispered quietly after the guards led them to the threshold, before commanding them to stay put. It was apparent he was trying his hardest to not pay attention to the hordes of females about, all in various states of dress, or more often, undress.

For a second Felonca didn’t hear his comment, she was so busy looking about herself. The room was large, perhaps a hundred feet long by thirty or forty across. Twenty foot colonnades, their bases and caps covered in gold, their shafts bright red, held aloft the frescoed ceiling. On the floor itself were numerous mosaics of... people in interesting positions.

Finally, when Meiji’s comment sank in, Felonca raised an eyebrow at him. “Meiji? How in the world would you know this?” Please... do not tell me someone here will recognize you from an ‘escapade’...

“Well... a few years ago, I did not get into the Governor of Liao’s palace, and I did not get two of his concubines...” Mercifully, Meiji’s story suddenly stopped as the two guards returned, followed by a woman. She looked quite a bit older than the other women present... fine crow’s feet around her eyes spoke of one who was at least thirty-five, perhaps forty years old. Her figure still looked desirable... Felonca could tell by Meiji’s semi-vacant stare.

“Madame Yu, these are the three additions. They are now in your care,” one of the guardsmen said, gesturing to the party. The woman gave an almost regal nod, and to Felonca’s surprise, the guards bowed, then returned to their posts... on either side of the exits to the common room.

The woman eyed the three figures before her with an air of inspection. First, she looked at Mai Lin, closing intently, looking about the girl’s face for blemishes, and wrinkling her nose when she found a mole. Next, her face contorted in disgust at seeing Meiji. Finally, her gaze fell on Felonca, and after a few seconds inspection, she gave a slight smile, and whispered under her breath, “the governor will certainly have fun with a hengeyokai.”

Felonca immediately tensed up. That does NOT sound pleasant... Focusing all of her energy, the rogue made herself blink several times, and give a pleasant, if slightly eager looking smile. Keep the role going...

“As you are aware,” the older woman spoke aloud, her tone and form pleasant and soothing, but with an undoubted undercurrent of command, “I am Madame Yu, the chief concubine to Governor Ho.” Her long silk gown swished as she turned around, looking towards Mai Lin. “I understand that arriving here, far from your homes, is sometimes a shocking, even frightening event... but the life in this harem is not that bad...” Swish towards Meiji, then a frown. “...even if one looks... less desirable than hoped.”

“It is possible to live here quite a long time, and even gain a measure of influence over the governor,” she smiled slightly, before her face suddenly went to stone, and her gaze switched finally to Felonca, “if you know your place!” The implied threat vanished from her face, as a smile of mystery too its place. “As well as keep the governor pleased in all his... admittedly strange ways.”

Felonca gulped, before her roguish instincts forced her assumed persona back to the fore. In a slightly too happy tone, she managed to blurt out, “Oh, I don’t think the governor would be that strange!” Madame Yu’s eyes narrowed at her perky comment.

“Things here are not what you are expecting,” Yu said rather icily. “The governor is an elderly man. He cannot... perform... as he did when I was younger. Instead, he is more interested in you – in all of us - as a symbol of his power, a token of his authority.” The smile returned, this one the smile of superiority, as if she was a scholar revealing to a slow child some small tidbit of how the world worked. “After all, only the powerful can afford to have themselves waited on and constantly surrounded by beautiful woman, no? And the more powerful he is, the more women he can surround himself with?”

“So... we are to be... servants then?” Mai Lin asked... the first words Felonca had heard the young woman say, period.

“Think of it as ‘show servants.’ For you, occasionally he will ask you to entertain his guests.” Another sharp stare at Felonca. “I alone entertain him, so you can drop your ‘cute’ act, kitty.”

Felonca found herself giving a sigh of relief, despite the Madame having seen through her acting job. It wasn’t until Yu had left that the full implications of what she said went through the rogue’s head, and she hissed a mild curse.

“What troubles you?” Mai Lin asked as the group found an unoccupied pile of piles and sat, Meiji somewhat uncomfortably.

“If we’re ‘show servants’ who will spend most of the time lounging around the governor during audiences, but not with him in private... how in the world are we supposed to...” she let her voice drift off.

“Well, she said His Eminence likes to use his harem as fancy schmancy servants,” Meiji replied, his voice half-cracking has he spoke. He was obviously very constrained. “Maybe we’ll have to draw him a bath, or take him his slippers before bed.”

“He speaks the truth,” Mai Lin whispered quietly. “As for now, I think we should try to sit by ourselves, and avoid needless conversation, between ourselves or with the others. We do not want to give ourselves away, when we are this close.”



The tactic of aloofness and silence only worked for ten minutes or so, before one of the other harem girls sauntered over to their location under the guise of bringing a plate of grapes. When the young girl began blabbering away, at first the only thing Felonca took note of was that she was blonde... undoubtedly a foreigner.

“Would you like some grapes? Chen brought them in this morning, fresh from the markets!” she eagerly offered. Her voice was high pitched, and rather annoying. To her chagrin, Felonca saw Meiji was having a hard time not staring... the woman was clad in much the same manner as Felonca and Mai Lin, and her lighter than normal skin made her very exotic looking.

“Not really,” Felonca spoke for the others, before delivering a look that would have told most people to move on and mind their own business. Apparently, this girl lacked the intelligence to understand.

“Oh... cheer up! You’re new here, and that old witch told you that you’ll be playing servant for the rest of your days!” The blonde plopped herself down next to Felonca, and the rogue saw Mai Lin take over ‘death look’ duties towards Meiji as Felonca was reluctantly forced into conversation.

“Why should I be cheery?” the rogue asked.

“Well,” the girl’s voice dropped into a conspiratory tone, “for starters, two of the guards here aren’t eunuchs!” She let off a slight giggle, and added, “it looks as if you’ve caught Chen’s attention!” She flashed a look towards the door, and one of the two guards that escorted Felonca in smiled back.

“And why should I celebrate that? Won’t a guard sleeping with people in the harem cause a death sentence of some kind?” It’s rather logical that the governor would not like his toys played with...

“Oh... he has access to some alchemals, so there’s no pregnancy,” the girl laughed, “and he’s in a good position to buy trinkets and stuff from the outside and smuggle notes out, considering that his other duty is as a one of the chief personal guards to the governor!”

Felonca was suddenly all ears. Chief personal guard... hmm...

I think we have our inroads now...

“Oh... he is?” she let her tone flip towards the happy, excited tone she’d tried with Madame Yu, and as she expected, the blonde girl didn’t question the switch... indeed, she laughed.

“Good! I thought that might cheer you up! Last week, he smuggled a letter from home for me!” The girl winked towards the guard in question, a move that got another smile from him. “Besides, he’s much better than the governor in bed anyways!”

“Really?” Felonca was actually interested, just in a different thing that guard could do. “Do you think I could go...um...talk to him?” Play nervous... pull her into the web a little more...

She stifled a giggle. “Of course! Everyone assumes he’s a eunuch! He’s rather nice to us, like the other guards...” her tone quieted for a bit, “except when the governor orders them to do mean things. But that happens only rarely!” Her tone perked back up, “And he regrets having to do such to us. Besides, if your parents are like mine, they’d probably want to know where you ended up!”

You have no idea about my parents! Their mere mentioning made Felonca tense up, as part of her mind imagined what her father would say if he knew where she was at the moment. He’d probably call me a harlot... and curse me even more... The moroseness lasted only a second, before the girl’s blinking eyes and vacant stare prompted Felonca to respond.

“Yes... they’d probably wonder. Besides, I have a special request for him.” Despite the sourness in her mind at such a comment, Felonca made herself wink, and the girl giggled.

“Like what? You want a special posting on your first day in the harem?”

“Um... yes...” Special posting? What does she mean... god, if this is another euphemism...

The girl gave a teehee giggle. “Then you want to talk to Chen too... when the governor calls for just any of the girls to come do something, Chen picks who goes. So if you want to get yourself on the governor’s good side right away...”



“Bah,” Nayu looked out of the small murderhole in the South Gate and resumed his pacing. Battle is fine... it is the waiting that is killing me! Annoyed, the wizard looked to his left inside the first floor of the pagoda atop the immense gate, and Yari Ai gave him a slight grin.

“You’re annoyed too?” she said softly, her own hands nervously sharpening the blade of her shikomi-zue. From her neck hung a small totem she’d found in the city, a piece of jade shaped like a human face. Despite the fact he couldn’t tell what it did, Nayu could feel magic eminating off of it.

“No, I just pace for the fun of it,” he gave a wry grin. Selim isn’t back yet... did they run into trouble? Or worse... “I’m just worried about Felonca, Selim... and ancestors deny it, Meiji...”

She reached over and patted his hand. “They’re alright... I’m sure of it. Otherwise, we’d be seeing an army of guards approaching the gate...”

When the Captain of the City Watch called out his warning, Nayu almost jumped out of his skull, until the guardsman ran into the room, and called that Selim was even then climbing the stairs towards the parapets.



“So... Jerika says that you want to ask for something special...” Despite the red cloth covering all of his face except his eyes, Felonca could tell the man called Chen was leering, his mouth probably spread in a predatory grin. His lascivious voice told it all, and Felonca thanked her stars that the two were in a obscured part of the chamber. Otherwise, she was sure Meiji would see this, and she’d never live it down.

Instead of smacking him, like her instinct told her, Felonca instead looked at the ground shyly, and shifted her feet. “Yes...” she said quietly. “I need you to do something for me... and I’d...be willing to do something for you...” She then looked up at him coyly.

“Well, my assistance comes with a price,” he whispered, “and I have to say I have a thing for hengeyokai...” He gave a dark chuckle, and Felonca sighed.

The evils I endure... she mentally complained, before launching into her request.

“I...um...” she kept up her act by twisting her hair awkwardly, “want to meet the governor... but it’s only my first day...”

“Oho! This is something new!” Chen laughed softly. “I remember Jerika asked the same thing, and so did Li, and Akino, and...” He stopped, and leered again. “What will you do for me to give you this...”

“...and when I go see him,” Felonca plunged onwards, maintaining her coy look, “I don’t want guards listening. I...have some rather unique skills. And I tend to be rather loud. I have no doubt His Eminence will be as well.” She shot him a look that mixed coyness and defiance. She could see the guard’s reaction by his eyes, bright and glinting as ideas of future events ran in his head.

She memorized those eyes that were already doing things to her, even as she was still clothed. If I see you again, I’ll fix the governor’s mishap of not castrating you!

“Hmm... well, I believe I will agree, on the condition that I can also experience your ‘unusual skills’ as well. Not tonight... I have guard duty at the gates, but tomorrow night, I am posted here again...”

Felonca forced herself to nod, not spit.

“Tonight then, you will attend the governor at his baths...” he looked up momentarily, then leaned so he could look into the rest of the room, before turning back, “...along with the plain one and the whale. In comparison to them, your beauty should be accented, and I have no doubt, the governor will call for you again by name...” The lascivious smile returned, and he leaned close to her.

“Then tomorrow night...”

Felonca nodded, keeping her left hand hidden behind her back. If she hadn’t hid it from him, he would’ve seen her warfan shaking within its grasp, she was so eager to slash his smile from his face.



It was some six hours later, and Nayu still chafed, nervously running through spells and tactics, examining and reexamining the battle in his mind, long before it happened.

This man has green skin... a feared spellcaster and swordsman... I can’t allow him to get into a position to use his magic... We’ve GOT to lay him low as quickly as possible!

As the sorcerer found a likely spell in his repetoire, he heard Selim’s raspy voice calling from his hidden spot on the ramparts. Yari Ai and Nayu dashed from within the gatehouse onto the ramparts as well, and Nayu’s heart fell.

On the street below, headed towards the gatehouse was an immense parade of power. A mass of turbaned warriors, at least thirty of them, marched first, scimitars in hand. Behind them came another twenty turbaned warriors with composite bows, and finally, in the far rear, a brilliantly gilded chariot, a scholar, and a driver underneath its bright parasol. Between them stood a tall, lean man, clad in the red robes of an advisor. His dark eyes flashed about keenly, as his emerald green hand rested on the hilt of an immense longsword.

Yi Man had arrived at the South Gate, six hours ahead of schedule...

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Monster long update today... took three hours to type. Enjoy!

The Battle of Xianfung, Part One

“Dammit... dammit dammit dammit!” Nayu cursed as a runner streaked ahead of Yi Mang’s chariot, doubtlessly to demand that the gates be opened for his eminence, the advisor to Governor Ho. The streets were starting to clear, as the massive column drew closer and closer.

“The one day he’s not on time,” Nayu heard Selim hiss. The sorcerer then turned, and saw Yari Ai’s eyes looking fearfully between the advancing mass of men, and the palace.

Our plans are shot! I doubt Felonca’s in position to get to the governor yet... damn damn damn! It would only be a matter of minutes until Yi was almost under the gate, close enough to likely notice the preparations Nayu, Selim, and the Gate Captain had put together; bales of hay to be dropped into the path of Yi’s oncoming column, the boiling tar and rocks ready to be dumped on the then blocked column.

What now? Nayu asked himself. If Yi gets too close, our cover is blown. If we stike now, the governor will likely have time to prepare the palace for a siege... For several moments Nayu stared into the street as the runner drew closer, thinking of his friend, the people of the entire province, even his parents.

“What should we do, Master Wakabayashi?” Nayu heard the Captain of the City Watch, his voice trembling slightly as the dull whump of many feet marching in unison became audible, as did the clatter of horses and the rumble of chariot wheels.

Well, what course do we have? Nayu thought silently, his mind already rifling through his magical options. We need an immediate, devastating attack that can take out as many of them as we can, and incapacitate HIM, the sorcerer realized. After a few seconds, he settled on a spell he thought would do the job, then turned to the Captain of the City Watch and nodded.

“The luck of our ancestors be with us,” the Captain muttered, before silently scampering away to relay the orders. Battle it would be.

Watch over me, father, Nayu thought as he felt his magic building, rising to the surface. We have one chance at this... and if we succeed, we’ll then need to storm the palace. As the frothing power finally reached the surface of his fingertips, he took a position just behind one of the parapets, and gave one last thought to his friend.

Hold tight, Felonca... we’ll get you out of there! he thought as a tiny ball of white flashed from his hands, straight towards the powerful chariot the imperious Yi stood in.

The next second, hell came to earth in the streets of Xianfung.

Nayu himself was surprised at the power of the explosion his magic unleashed (maximized fireball), set directly in the midst of Yi and his large retinue. The blinding flash and roar shook the very walls of the city seeming to their foundations, as bodies of soldiers cartwheeled through the air, leaving trails of black smoke that the evening breeze caught and lazily swept away from the scene of destruction. What few common people that were still on the street screamed, and dashed back towards whatever shelter they could find.

“Loose!” Nayu had been concentrating too hard to hear the creak of the bowstrings, but he felt the air around him stir slightly as a barrage of arrows from the watchmen atop the gatehouse lanced downward into the scene of ruin at any figures still moving within the smoke and murk. Several dull thwacks and added moans spoke of men now transfixed by arrows.

While the soldiers then began to stare in slightly shocked awe on the destruction belong, Nayu’s surprise at his own power waned, in favor of a unease. That was too easy... the explosion of flame was powerful, yes, he thought, the smoke blowing away enough that the edge of a crater was just coming into view, but I have a bad feeling about...

His mind stopped in utter confusion, as the smoke moved further away. While the remains of the horses that once pulled it were hard to identify in the mess of bodies below, to Nayu’s utter shock, the chariot itself was still unharmed, sitting in the midst of the large crater, as if nothing had happened. Inside it, Yi Mang’s green skinned form stood confused but unharmed, as did a frightened driver and a scholar.

Now, the sounds of yelling arose from the streets, as the soldiers behind Yi finally realized they were under attack from the wall. Swords drawn, they surged towards the stairs up the parapet, as Nayu spotted another man clad in the robes of a scholar running up to alongside the chariot, before he began reaching for a bundled book held in his sleeve.

How in the... Nayu sat in confused shock for another moment, as Yi Mang touched his chest and Nayu saw the vestiges of a protective armor spell arise around the man. When the tall, powerful figure began to reach for the enormous sword at his hip, Nayu finally realized his intention.

He’s going to lead the charge against us... and probably carve us up into little bits! To make matters worse, it seemed as if fire didn’t work against him, or he had some kind of protection against magic. But if he’s protected from magic, how did his driver and the chariot survive unscathed... unless his protection magic covered an area around him...

Two and two became four in Nayu’s mind.

Dammit! he snarled as he recognized the protective magic, and realized that unless he drew close to Yi, his lightning bolts and fireballs would be useless (Nayu just realized YI has a Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser going). In one second, his powerful spells that had levelled a village had been rendered useless. I need something more powerful...

As Yari Ai’s voice rose in quiet prayer, calling for the aid of the ancestral spirits in guiding the arrows and blades of her allies this day, Nayu focused his magic yet again, before unleashing a bright, flashing burst of light towards Yi Mang, and the scholar beside the chariot. Just before it lanced through them, the light burst into purple violence, lancing through both men (Prismatic Ray, Insanity).

Yi merely blinked, before looking up towards the parapet directly at Nayu and snarling, his blade now drawn, dark, sinister flames now licking up and down its steel length.

The scholar behind Yi reacted far differently. His face changed from a look of concentration to one of mirth, his eyes went wide with the joy only the mad understand, and his maniacal cackles echoed above the noise of battle (we now have a mad spellcaster on the loose).

Nayu had little time to think of this, however. A second before it struck, Nayu heard the slight woosh of an arrow in flight, and then felt something smack into his shoulder. His mind, focused on channeling his magic and the battle at hand, dully noted the strike, almost as if he was an observer to the fight, rather than a participant.

Focus... he grunted, as several archers from below continued to pepper the walls with arrow fire, Yi angrily yelling and pointing towards Nayu’s position as the soldiers below drew closer. The screaming spellcaster then made a few arcane movements, before both he and the third unaffected scholar both disappear.

What? Nayu thought, his mind confused now by the pain in his shoulder and the sudden disappearance of his foes. Another arrow flashed close, ripping his robes, and Nayu quickly ducked behind the parapet as the pain became intense. I need to get this arrow out, his conscious mind said rather clinically, even as his more primal sides were starting to scream with pain.

“Captain!” he hissed, “Take out those archers and the guardsmen! Then we can all focus on Yi!” No sooner had he issued the order, than he reached over, and grasped the arrow still stuck in his body. With a grunt, he pulled, and the pain became almost unimaginable.

“Here,” he heard a voice yell as another volley of arrows lashed out from the gatehouse, and he felt saw another pair of hands grab the arrow shaft. He looked up, to find Yari Ai looking directly at him. “Now, this is going to hurt alot over the next few seconds, but once this is out, I can heal you.” Nayu hissed and nodded, before her more adept hands gave a sharp tug, and he yelled. No sooner had the arrow been removed than he felt her hands cover the wound, and just as quickly, the pain ebbed away. Her hands then found his forehead, and he felt magic of some kind flowing from her into him. It only took a few seconds, then he looked up at her, confused.

“Yi has gone invisible, and has already killed several guardsmen with magic while I healed you,” Yari Ai said quietly. “I have the guidance of my ancestor’s sight, but I have no means to harm him.” She ducked low as another, far thinner, swarm of arrows clattered against the parapets. “You, however...”

“I can see an invisible person now?” Nayu asked, unsure of the magic she spoke of. I have heard of no such spell... (She cast true seeing upon Nayu)

“Look for yourself,” she replied, then added, “before you make Yi and his two accomplices fall out of the sky.”

“What are you...” Nayu started as he clambered back up, until he looked over the parapets. There, now plain as the setting sun, hovered Yi and the healthy scholar, some fifteen feet above the chariot, magic missiles flashing from their hands and picking off watchmen along the parapet walls. Slightly further away hovered the cackling madcap of a scholar, gibberish flowing from his mouth.

“Right.” Nayu went back into his focused mood, his mind now channeling and focusing the magical fire within his body, twisting its shape, molding it specifically for the need at hand... two blasts, one centered on Yi and the scholar next to him, the other on the aerial gibbering mouth that no one could understand.

Once again, the walls and streets of Xianfung seemed to shake, as another, even more powerful blast of fire exploded above the city (Nayu spellsculpted a Burning Ray spell). To the eyes of the soldiers, the blast seemed to happen in mid-air, the suddenly two people tumbled down from the sky, one aflame and screaming, the other merely smoldering yet cackling with madman’s delight. Alone on the wall, save for Yari Ai, Nayu saw Yi twist his way clear of most of the blast, and somehow avoiding the fate of the others.

Meanwhile, the assault upon the gatehouse by Yi’s bodyguards was collapsing. Yet another volley of arrows from the Captain’s soldiers sliced through the air, cutting down the few soldiers still charging in the open through the wide street. The madman spellcaster, meanwhile, arose somehow from his fall, and cackling with glee, proceeded to blast two archers from his side with magical energy. The others, seeing the battle going against them, began to flee.

You can’t escape, Yi! Nayu yelled mentally, as he waited and guided the magic rising within his blood yet again. If Yi fled, and returned to the palace... it was a course that Nayu dreaded to fathom, with his closest friend stuck inside those terrible walls. Then, as Nayu was trying to find a spell to unleash on Yi, the spellcaster disappeared, despite even Yari Ai’s special sight.

Nayu would later count himself extremely lucky. Something within his instincts told him to duck, and just as he did, he felt immense heat and heard an enormous whoosh rumble just inches over his head. He spun around, only to see Yi Mang’s immense, green, almost rocky form, nearly six and a half feet tall, towering over him, his flaming sword rising for yet another strike...

Later Nayu would say it was a combination of sheer instinct and cold calculation that let him realize in that split second that now he was within Yi’s sphere of protection. Whatever the motivation, Nayu raised his hands, and a powerful arc of electricity blasted the five feet between Nayu’s fingers and Yi’s chest, its thunderclap coming instantaneously as all along the wall just began to shout and react to Yi’s sudden teleportation.

The unexpected blast stunned the powerful Yi, who seemed to hang momentarily in the air as an immense tree clings to the sky just before its demise and fall. The delay was all that was needed, as in the next second no less than six arrows transfixed the advisor to Governor Ho, and Yi Mang the Green tumbled from the parapets, his body landing ignominiously in a pile of manure in the city below.

It was then that the trumpets of the City Watch began to sing out, and an avalanche of people intent on the demise of Governor Ho, began rumbling towards the palace...



“Is it normal for us to randomly hear trumpets and horns blaring this much?” Meiji asked quietly only a few minutes later. Felonca herself shrugged, as she nibbled on a grape from a plate left by the overly chatty blonde harem girl. The girl had talked incessantly for a few hours, before she had been called off for some duty or other... Felonca seriously wondered if someone found her entertaining enough to put with the doubtlessly endless chatter, questions and comments that she would continually pour forth. She was about ask Mai Lin what she thought of the trumpet noise, before she spotted a smirking Chen approaching. Quickly, she put on the most flirtatious look she could muster.

“Madames,” Chen grinned lasciviously at Felonca, before giving mere bows of acknowledgement towards Mai Lin and Meiji, “Governor Ho wishes to see his newest acquisitions. He demands your immediate presence!” As the three stood and began to follow him out, Chen slowed just enough so he was by Felonca’s ear.

“I held up my end of the bargain... tomorrow night will a hengeyokai do the same?” he whispered.

“We shall see,” Felonca purred in response. As in we shall see whether my warfans merely cut your throat or someplace further down first!

The three were led through immaculate chambers, elaborate stairways, and past intricately carved mosaics, until finally, they emerged into the waning daylight of the setting sun. Chen led them across the bridge crossing the small inner lake, and towards the governor’s apartments, the elegant pagodas and columns bathed in a deep red hue from the coming dusk.

Almost like blood... Felonca thought quietly as the group ascended equally exquisite stairs and traversed beautiful halls until they reached a door made of chestnut with gold inlays and carvings. From the crack beneath it, steam filtered into the hall in small wisps.

“Here we are,” Chen said quietly. “Governor Ho is inside, enjoying a bath, and he expects for you three to diligently wait on him, and attend to all his needs for the next few hours.” He then motioned for the three to open the door.

Felonca noted with approval that there were no soldiers outside the door, nor were any in the entire hallway save for Chen. Just make sure, she told herself, before flashing him another flirtatious smile.

“If I have need of you,” she purred, purposefully referencing herself, “where will you be?”

“Just down the hall. Should you need anything, I will be able to hear you call.” His face remained normal, but Felonca read the dirty look his eyes gave at the last part, and she resisted the urge to growl.

So we’ll have to make this quiet then, she thought as the door to the sauna was opened. Instantly billows of steam greeted her with almost suffocating heat. Gingerly she stepped inside the room, whose marble walls and billowing steam reflected the blood red of the sunlight streaming through the windows, giving everything a reddish hue. In the center of the room sat an immense porcelain tub, from which only the back governor’s immense, fat head was visible, only thin wisps of white hair coming from his scalp.

“Your Excellency, I have brought your new harem servants, as you have asked,” Chen bowed towards the immense form. From the tub a flabby, jiggly arm emerged, and five short, stubby fingers waved him away. Chen bowed once again, and backed out of the room. A few seconds later, Felonca and her companions found themselves alone with their target.

Alright... we need a few minutes to make sure Chen gets far enough away...

The same immense hand waved again, an obvious signal. Gingerly, shyly, as a harem girl should, the three approached the immense tub, before bowing next to it. As she approached, Felonca grew thankful that whatever herbs and spices that had been placed into the tub had created an immense froth of bubbles, denying her any more grotesque a view of His Excellency than the quadruple rolls of skin underneath his chin. His eyes were still closed, and he wheezed every time he breathed.

“We are your humble servants, Excellency. What does Your Excellency require of his servants?” Felonca asked, making sure her voice sounded timid, afraid. Slowly, his dark eyes opened, and a slight smile came upon his lips at seeing Felonca and Mai Lin. When his eyes reached Meiji, they suddenly narrowed.

“You look like a cow with running makeup,” the governor’s wheezy voice hissed at Meiji, before the imperious hand slowly half-gestured towards a corner where towels were hanging. “Fetch me a towel, I don’t want to see your ugly face.”

In horror, Felonca saw that the governor was right on one account; the makeup Selim had caked that morning on Meiji’s face was starting to break and run with the immense humidity in the room. It would not be long... maybe as short of time as an hour, before Meiji went from a badly made up woman into what appeared to be a man sporting breasts and smears all across his face.

Dammit! she hissed, as Meiji quickly made himself scarce. The governor’s gaze then returned to Felonca, and the lazy half smile started again.

“You look far more beautiful than that goat. You will feed me grapes,” he wheezily commanded. As Felonca turned to reach for the platter of grapes, the immense hand suddenly flashed out with surprising speed, grabbing her wrist. The smile was now big, a grin even more demeaning than Chen’s, as the governor pulled her close.

“And you will let down your hair, and stay here after the others are dismissed,” he rasped. He then let go of her arm, and motioned towards her head.

“I... thank you for your attention, Excellency,” Felonca said quietly, relieved he had released her. Now is the time... she thought, as she gingerly reached up towards the pins holding her hair in place, an ad hoc plan coming to her mind. A truely skilled person at seduction might have called her attempts to look alluring while undoing the pins of her hair amateurish, but there was nothing amateur at all about how her right hand palmed the dangerously poisonous pins, shielding them from view even as she shook her hair loose, and it fell about her shoulders. She gave him another shy smile. “May this servant be permitted to kiss your Excellency?”

“You will kiss me, immediately,” he wheezed as the request was transformed into a demand.

Gingerly Felonca closed with the governor’s face, his fat, bulbous lips, performing an acting job that perhaps Meiji could never have matched, half smiling and closing her eyes as if she was about to enjoy the upcoming travesty. As she smelled his horrific breath washing over her face, she carefully opened one eye, and noted that both his eyes were closed, await her to lock with his lips.

Her left hand quickly lashed out, smothering his lips. His eyes flashed wide open, a muffled cry escaping her grasp. Simultaneous she expertly flicked forward the pins in her right hand, moving them from a position of hiding into a position of attack. As one of the governor’s flabby hands grabbed for her left hand, she slammed three pins, the tips of each slathered in the venom of a massive scorpion, into the governor’s neck, forcing them deep.

“You expect me to want to kiss a monster like you?” Felonca hissed as another scream from the governor was muffled by her hand. His eyes were wide in terror as his hands clawed at her, he no doubt could feel the poison coursing through his veins, a look that made Felonca snarl more. “You expect me to want you, after what they say you did to the other girls? Use them for fun? Kill them for fun?” His eyes began to roll into the back of his head, as bathwater sloshed out onto the floor from the seizures wracking his body.

“You are a scum of the earth,” she hissed, knowing full well he could still hear her even as his body broke down and died, “you are a lowlife! You are no governor!” His rapid shaking stopped, and she could feel his chest giving a series of immense heaves, desperately trying to bring in air for lungs that were already decimated, a heart that was already eaten away. His eyes, for one last instant, looked at her, wide with terror.

“You’re just a dirty old man, worth his weight in manure!” she spat as his eyes rolled back for the last time. I hope you heard those as your last words, you bastard! her mind snarled. After she was sure he was dead, she turned to Mai Lin and Meiji.

“Mai Lin, I want you to dump some of those grapes in the bathwater, and dump some on the floor. Make it look like the grapes were spilled.” She then turned to her cousin. “Meiji, I remember you used to be able to impersonate Uncle Feng’s voice really well. Can you still do that?”

“Why would I want to impersonate Uncle Feng?” Meiji hissed in reply. “He’s got nothing to do with the governor, and we need to figure out a way to get out of here!”

“Uncle Feng’s voice was raspy!” Felonca snapped in quiet reply, as she pulled the pins from the governor’s throat and started washing them in the tub water. “He wheezed because of that throat wound! If you yell like him, you could sound like the governor!”

“Oh...” Meiji finally understood.

Quickly, Felonca closed the governor’s wide open eyes, and closed the mouth that was wide in terror. Then, she pushed hard on his body, until the marks left by the pins disappeared below the bubbly surface of the water. Then, she turned back towards Meiji. “I want you to yell that I was incompetent, spilled grapes into the tumb, you want us removed, and that you want Madame Yu to take our place to soothe your anger after this mess!”

Chen and Yu seem to be the ones in charge of the harem... if we can get them both busy simultaneously, we can have a better chance of slipping away...

A few raspy, angry yells later, and Chen opened the door. Quickly, he hustled the three into the hallway, tsking Felonca for “ruining her golden chance” to ingratiate herself with the governor.

“You will still owe me, regardless,” the guard hissed as he closed the door. “Heaven knows, if he is really angry with you, I may have to do some serious persuading to keep you alive long enough for me to collect,” he snapped. “What a mess... first we get strange reports from the city, and have to dispatch a palace regiment to quell some kind of chaos, and now you anger the governor! Bah!”

Chaos in the streets? Does that mean... Felonca’s heart jumped slightly, as Chen led them onward, still ranting. They passed through all of the corridors and halls in reverse, finally crossing the bridge back into the harem. As they walked about, Felonca noticed almost all of the guards were gone...

Nayu must’ve done something in the city... maybe Yi has already been struck down... she hoped. Finally, the group met Madame Yu on the ground floor of the harem, and Felonca endured another short lecture on not angering the governor, before Chen escorted Yu out of the building and towards the governor’s apartments.

“So... he expects us to go back up to the harem floors by ourselves?” Meiji commented once Chen and Yu were far enough away. “What an idiot.”

“He’s preoccupied,” Felonca replied. “The governor is angry, and many of his men in the palace have been pulled out. He thinks we’re cowed and we’ll do as we’re told, hoping to live. Speaking of which,” she started towards the door of the harem, “I think we should think about escape... now.”

We might not have guards inside the harem to contend with, but if Nayu’s done what I think happened, we’ll have guards on top of the walls we must scale already... and even more once Yu figures out the governor is more than ‘just sleeping...’

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

And thus ended the lives of Governor Ho and his advisor Yi Mang. Now all that remains of this session are the dual lines of Felonca’s escape from the palace, and Nayu’s attempts to storm the same...

Yi Mang was a Green Star Adept, a PrC found in the Complete Arcane, if I remember correctly. Eating large amounts of the residue of a green meteor (the green metal people referred to) gave him bonuses to his constitution, immunities to poison and paralysis, and a natural armor bonus. On top of this, he had exotic weapon profiency with a bastard sword. His tactics would be to usually buff himself magically, then wade into battle with his +2 flaming bastard sword... a plan that a meddling sorcerer and members of the City Watch managed to foil...

 

[ThoughtfulOwl]

LOL!

Witness the Conveniently Placed Pile of Manure (TM), the standard ending point of all upstart would-be villains since Biff from back to the future; real villains can afford better CGI for a more spectacular demise: being thrust into the reactor shaft shortly before the space station explodes, destroying their own army of darkness with an earthquake, things like that.

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Monster long update today... took three hours to type.

And well worth every minute .

Enjoy!

I certainly did. It's always nice to see bad guys come to sticky end ... and particularly nice to see Felonca sending the Governor on his way to Hell with a few choice words .

I can't help wondering, however, how much unwelcome attention Nayu and Felonca will have attracted with this though ...

 

[Emperor Valerian]

LOL!

Witness the Conveniently Placed Pile of Manure (TM), the standard ending point of all upstart would-be villains since Biff from back to the future; real villains can afford better CGI for a more spectacular demise: being thrust into the reactor shaft shortly before the space station explodes, destroying their own army of darkness with an earthquake, things like that.

I don't know... I thought it was rather fitting myself .

I can't help wondering, however, how much unwelcome attention Nayu and Felonca will have attracted with this though ...

Turns out quite a bit... and Felonca has a few more acts this session that Nayu might have described as "nuts."

 

[Emperor Valerian]

That was a mistake in my last post... it should've read Nayu did a few things Felonca called "crazy." With that note, here's the next section...


=========================================
The Battle of Xianfun Part 2

“Why can’t they make dresses for climbing?” Meiji hissed a few minutes later, as alarm drums rolled from somewhere outside the palace. As the hengeyokai’s claws gripped into cracks within the tall, smooth inner wall, there was yet another rip, as even more of his haphazard dress tore. On the ground below lay two enormous leather wineskins, the remains of Meiji’s false bosom.

“A question I have asked many times,” Mai Lin replied, before clambering the last few inches towards the top of the wall. Like the rogue, Felonca was having no problems clambering up the wall... other than being rather eye-catching, the silk outfit was too skimpy to get in the way. For the first time, Felonca was thankful for the clothing, frills or none.

“Mai Lin, can you see anything?” Felonca hissed as her head bumped the rogue’s foot. Her own eyes scanned the courtyard below... the waters in the lake around the were still placid, and there were no soldiers in view. True, it’d only been around two minutes since they’d snuck out of the harem house, but she knew that at any moment, the alarm was likely going to arise from the Governor’s Apartments.

As if on cue, the noise of a scream came from one of the upper-most windows.

Ah... that must be where the sauna is, Felonca thought sourly, before calling up to Mai Lin again. “Hey, we’re on a limited time budget here! What do you see?”

“There’s literally hundreds of soldiers on the western side of this wall,” Mai Lin called back. “But...”

“Well?”

“They’re all looking that way! As if something’s got their attent-“

Felonca didn’t need to hear the rest of the call, as a familiar thunderclap rumbled over the palace walls.

“Then let’s get over this wall while they’re busy!”



“Good gods!”

Nayu gave a fierce grin at the awestruck look of the guildmaster of the thieves in Xianfung as the smoke from his latest magical endeavor rose from the midst of the palace plaza. Around the dark column lay the bodies of tens of red turbaned guards, their spears shattered and broken as the survivors ran back towards the outer walls of the palace itself. The sorcerer then ducked behind the same barrel where the guildmaster was hiding as the shouts and roars of the City Watch surrounding the palace overwhelmed the evening air.

“Can your expert bowmen keep the City Watch covered?” Nayu asked, as the first barrage of arrows from the palace defends clattered onto the plaza below. Felonca is a very good shot with a bow, I should think these thieves would be decent at least.

“Do I look like a soldier? Did the other thieves look like soldiers!” the guildmaster shot back, dull thwacks of arrows slamming into their shelter. “We are not heroes with bows! We sneak about, and your series of booms and crashes at the South Gate ruined any chance of that!”

“Fine, whatever. Can you cover me?” Nayu snapped. The guildmaster held up his shortbow in frustration.

“Does it look like I have a repeating crossbow?” More arrows clattering onto the plaza. “No, I don’t! Besides, just place another one of those... fire thingies you do right on the gatehouse! That’ll shut them up!”

“Right,” Nayu said, before suddenly another figure shoved its way between them, knocking Nayu over. With one hand Yari Ai helped him back up, while with the other she pulled herself up to peek over the barrel.

“How’s the City Watch doing?” Nayu asked, hoping to hear they had secured a breakthrough somewhere else. When Yari Ai turned and gave a little wince, Nayu groaned.

“Those archers on the wall are very very good... just look at my tunic,” she gestured, and Nayu noticed three new holes in her left sleeve. “The ones in the gatehouse have the Watch pinned down, and more are going up onto the west wall!”

“Dammit.” How the hell are we going to get into the palace and get to Felonca? More arrows clattered into the plaza, but the noise seemed further away, as if the palace guards had shifted their aim elsewhere, towards more imminent threats than three people hiding behind a barrel.

It was a mistake they soon regretted.



Felonca looked up towards the wall above, easily spotting the shadows of soldiers running towards the west, the gate, and Felonca’s picked exit from the chaos of the palace. The shouts and screams after the second great explosion were dying down, as the three dashed along the outside of the inner wall. In the distance, the sounds of steel clanging was audible.

“Is some monster attacking the palace gates?” Mai Lin asked fearfully as she desperately tried to keep up with the two panther hengeyokai, who dashed amongst the lengthening shadows with speed and grace their rogue companion could only dream of matching.

“No, that’s my friend Nayu. He occasionally blows things up,” Felonca called back, laughing, confident they couldn’t be heard over the drums calling the alarm, and the shouts of soldiers and commanders alike. Good thing he’s there... that’s keeping these people dis...

Holy hell?

Felonca et al skidded to a halt as they reached the southwest corner of the inner wall, mere feet from the place they planned to cross the moat from. The small garden islands were still intact, as were the airy bridges connecting them. What caught Felonca’s attention was what was going on towards the north.

Namely the flames gutting the gatehouse.

And the hordes of burnt guard’s bodies lying about.

“Merciful Heaven!” Mai Lin cried, as Felonca shoved everyone back into the wall as the smoke pall from the ruined gatehouse billowed into the night sky. “What in the Nine Hells caused...”

“Nayu,” Felonca replied, a grin growing on her face. Nice placement, my friend! “Those guards will surely be busy trying to hold that gate!” After a quick glance upward to confirm all eyes were on the massive fire and not the three small forms belond, the now exuberant panther dragged her cousin and companion towards the garden islands, and after a short leap across the moat, towards freedom.

True to her expectations, the chaos at the gate drew the attention of the remaining guards away from the southwest corner, and with little fuss, the three clambered up the much shorter outer wall, and onto its parapets. As they hustled, and hurried to start clambering down the other side, Felonca stopped at what she saw.

“What the hell are you doing?!” she snapped, before giving a quick look about. The guards were still busy attempting to put out the flames, and hold of the City Watch, which had made an impromptu battering ram out of a large wagon filled with bricks. Quickly, she reached a hand down.

“I’ve asked him the same question five times!” Yari Ai shouted from below as Felonca hauled the huffing and puffing Nayu onto the parapet.

“Are you nuts! What are you doing on the battlements! Why aren’t you behind some cover! Didn’t you think the guards would shoot you! What is the matter with...” The barrage of questions tumbled from Felonca’s mouth for several seconds, as her military training screamed at all the basics of battle he had broken. Breaking cover during a barrage of arrows, running about with no armor, climbing up a wall alone, with no training, no ladder!?!

For his part, the sorcerer caught his breath, and as Felonca’s tirade continued, he rather casually slipped past her, closer to the guards further down the wall. Once his aim was unobstructed, he let loose a thunderous lightning bolt directly down the length of the wall, decimating the last of the defenders before the City Watch. He turned back to his friend and smirked.

“That’s what I was doing, rescuing you.” He then looked her up and down, and the smirk became larger. “Nice dress.”

“I was almost out! We didn’t need rescuing!” Felonca replied in a slight huff, not realizing how humorous she looked when angry and clad in a silk dancer’s outfit. “You, on the other hand, climbed up a battlement, with no one to protect you...”

“I tried to stop him!” Yari Ai called from below. “He was bull-headed!”

“...and you aren’t even good at climbing! What if you fell?” You could’ve seriously hurt yourself, Nayu! Or even been killed! Climbing up that wall made you a sitting duck! It’s amazing no one picked you off with a few spare arrows!

Nayu shrugged. “I would’ve gotten up?” The smirk changed to a slight scowl. “Seriously, I was trying to get the City Watch in here in case you hadn’t gotten to the governor. Which you apparently did in stunning style, I guess?”

Before Felonca could administer another soldierly growl, a loud cheer from the directions of the flames drew everyone’s attention, as the doors to the palace broke under the pressure, and the City Watch streamed inside, their armor glinting in the growing moonlight...



“Welcome, Master... or should I now say... Governor Ling.”

Nayu smiled and gave a bow to the old man. While there was genuine greeting in the gesture, the smile also contained relief. Felonca’s lecture of where spellcasters should be during a field engagement, straight from the lessons she learned from Quan-Shi long ago, was still ringing in his ear.

He expected Ling to be pleased at seeing the work they’d done, but when he finished his bow and looked up, he saw the old man was staring into the palace, his eyes wide in shock as a night breeze billowed his cloak behind him.

“It’s... its on fire!” he stammered. “How?”

Oh no... I didn’t even think about the fact Ling’s going to have to live here after we were finished.

Dammit... can’t lie. He can read minds... crap.

“Um... oops?” Nayu offered with a shrug, his own robes shining slightly orange in the hue of the fires now raging atop the western gatehouse and the kitchens of the governor’s palace. I’m not sure what we could’ve done... since the roofs of this palace are wood....

For a second he expected the older man to explode into a tirade about the safe use of spells. Instead, the older man gave a far more damning sigh. “It will take some time to fix the damage... and I hope that the multitude of documents inside, as well as the treasury, are unharmed...”

“Um...” Nayu stammered for a second, before adding, “I’ll start getting a bucket brigade organized...”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Short update this time. Felonca’s player repeatedly called Nayu crazy for trying to climb up the wall during the midst of a battle with a paltry Climb Skill of +1. Of her group, the rogue Mai Lin (6th level rogue) had to smallest Climb skill at +6. So the cautionary lectures were probably warranted, though Nayu’s lightning blast directly down the line of the wall did have a rather devastating effect on the defenders. . And yes, Nayu near the end was very proud of himself.

That’s basically the effective end of the eighth session. What remains makes more sense when melded with the start of the next session anyway, which should be posted sometime this weekend...

And as a teaser, next section involves the following:
- Another part of Felonca's past coming back to haunt her, as well as help her.
- Felonca taking the party's life into her hands... quite literally.
- Nayu blowing up many many more things (It's become his favorite thing to do, it seems).
- Oh... and a full scale (ie. army sized) battle!