carborundum
Adventurer
What happened next?????
The Porphyry House Horror
Aholibamah
First Post
Upstairs, Shannow was trying not to watch the silk clad swaying roundness of the hips of a passing serving maid, trying to also ignore the ribald jesting of a rough looking bunch that smelled and looked liked they'd just come off a ship. Mereka was discreetly invoking a prayer to detect magic on the statues. Marlee suddenly stopped being bored, sitting upright. Before she could even reach her companions though at some unseen signal the seemingly harmless serving maids whirled on them, their eyes cold and determined.
Shadows somehow filled the room with ominous darkness, the women smiling chilling smiles as they vanished from view. The other guests were dropping goblets and shouting in alarm. Mereka found herself under immediate attack even as she was calling out an invocation to dispel the darkness. To her dismay she saw armoured guards like the ones outside hurrying down the stairs. She wanted to go to her companions but they still had darkness around them--except Marlee, who with blazing electricity sparking around her, blue scales glowing in her own light, came blazing out of it with a roar.
Marlee could hear instructions to flee, to regroup. That had been the plan. Without hesitation, expecting the others to follow, the young dragon rushed at the doors, blasting them apart with a flash of her lighting breath, swooping out into the streets and flapping to reach the air above them.
Shannow was surrounded by darkness. He instinctively knew where the plants of the garden were though and ran there, feeling and hearing the curses of another guest as he stumbled over him, leaping over another, and plunging among the plants. Where was Mereka? He had out his dagger, not wanting to seriously wound a companion in the shadows, but then he felt a vicious stab in the leg. Yelling in pain he stabbed downward, feeling a muscular coiling body moving between his feet...he warned his animals to stay close, but heard the agonized yelp of his wolf...cursing and desperate, he tried to get to him but was lashed at again by the serpent.
Mereka had no time to pray...she was under attack! Furious at the dragon for abandoning them she cursed Marlee under her breath. By sheer warrior-priestess training she managed to invoke the power of a spiritual weapon over a throwing hammer and sent it flying at the reinforcements, forcing them to momentarily defend themselves. Out of the shadows hurtled a dagger aimed by one of the maids. Mereka shouted a war cry and went for her with a vengeance, aiming to get past her to the doors. The maid unhesitatingly retretated past a group of now furious and bewildered guests. To her astonishment Mereka found them attacking her.
"What the..." she had time for before she grimly set to defending herself, hurling furniture to keep them away. They were cutting her off from the door. Worse still at a command from one of the other maids the statues...yes she had feared so. The statues, elegant, beautiful, soulless, were stepping down from their pedestals and purposefully moving towards her.
Two can play at that game, she thought...if only she could get some space around herself.
Shannow was feeling feverish and weak...he managed to fumble for his belt pouch where he knew a potion was...it might not heal him...what was he thinking? What was he doing? He remembered the little vial in his hands and reached with enormous difficulty, feeling in the dark for the stopper. He heard sounds of fighting, some explosive sound. He managed to swallow and just in time whipped out his sword to slash at the serpent that was still stalking him. Missed! Confounded bad luck, he couldn't believe it, where were the gods of his ancestry? Then a blow out of the darkness took him down. He fell.
* * *
Upstairs, Kallyn and Dassah suddenly were plunged into darkness. There was a cry of alarm from one of the other bathers. Dassah was terrified, clinging to Kallyn. "What happened?" she asked.
"Stay close to me." Kallyn said quietly. She was afraid too but she was on the move, leading Dassah to the pool's edge. Somehow the water didn't seem comforting anymore. She just wanted to be out. She cursed herself for laying weapons and armour aside in this place. As they moved to the edge something muscular, long and smooth brushed past her bare thighs. Suppressing a scream, she moved out and began to haul Dassah out of the pool. Dassah was pulled from her arms!
"No!" cried Kallyn, and remembering where one of the stools was grabbed for it, at least it could bludgeon...
And the lights came on. She found herself face to face with the elegant lady who had interviewed her...who was watching benignly as an awful creature, half muscular human body in armor and half serpent, earless head glistening from the water, pulled a struggling Dassah, clutched helplessly in his arms, out of the pool.
"Let her go!" cried Kallyn.
"Drop the stool." instructed the lady calmly. "Or my friend will crush your pretty lover."
Kallyn hesitated, only long enough to see Dassah's face turning dark and her hands helplessly clawing at the fearsome strength of the creature holding her. His tail coiled around Dassah's bare legs and middle, gripping tightly.
"No..." Kallyn dropped the stool, holding up her hands.
The lady smiled coldly and drew a cord from the folds of her gown. "Now...sit down, face away from me and cross your wrists at the small of your back."
Captured! Kallyn's face was hot with shame. And yet the shame could have been faced more easily had it not been for Dassah's helpless struggles nearby, and herself helpless to help....
* * *
Down below, the arachnid horror reared above Aevar again, this time coming in for the kill. Summoning his inner strength he managed to fade into the stone floor itself.
It was a horrible experience. Strange evils had been wrought here, and to one of psychic sensitivity it was awful. But he had the horrible cold feeling that he would die if he faced the thing above him. Even now it was searching for him...aware of him. He had the dread that it would not be alone long, and expended enough effort to move himself away into the slightly narrower stairway. It would probably not stop the creature for long but it would give him moments...
Re-materializing he managed to suck back a potion of cure serious wounds. Moaning he felt his leg knit, just in time for him to start to run. He reactivated his invisibility just before he came round the first bend, the horrible metallic clicking rattling behind him. Above him on the stair was a coiling, powerful man-serpent, holding a gleaming falchion, a shield strapped to a muscular arm. It looked with staring, unblinking slitted eyes down where he would come from. Aevar trembled. Could he sneak past this thing? And with the demon-spider below, coming on fast...
With a leap he rushed past the snake man. There was an instinctive blurring motion of blade that nearly touched him but missed, and he was moving, fast, up out of the underworld and into the brothel above...
Shadows somehow filled the room with ominous darkness, the women smiling chilling smiles as they vanished from view. The other guests were dropping goblets and shouting in alarm. Mereka found herself under immediate attack even as she was calling out an invocation to dispel the darkness. To her dismay she saw armoured guards like the ones outside hurrying down the stairs. She wanted to go to her companions but they still had darkness around them--except Marlee, who with blazing electricity sparking around her, blue scales glowing in her own light, came blazing out of it with a roar.
Marlee could hear instructions to flee, to regroup. That had been the plan. Without hesitation, expecting the others to follow, the young dragon rushed at the doors, blasting them apart with a flash of her lighting breath, swooping out into the streets and flapping to reach the air above them.
Shannow was surrounded by darkness. He instinctively knew where the plants of the garden were though and ran there, feeling and hearing the curses of another guest as he stumbled over him, leaping over another, and plunging among the plants. Where was Mereka? He had out his dagger, not wanting to seriously wound a companion in the shadows, but then he felt a vicious stab in the leg. Yelling in pain he stabbed downward, feeling a muscular coiling body moving between his feet...he warned his animals to stay close, but heard the agonized yelp of his wolf...cursing and desperate, he tried to get to him but was lashed at again by the serpent.
Mereka had no time to pray...she was under attack! Furious at the dragon for abandoning them she cursed Marlee under her breath. By sheer warrior-priestess training she managed to invoke the power of a spiritual weapon over a throwing hammer and sent it flying at the reinforcements, forcing them to momentarily defend themselves. Out of the shadows hurtled a dagger aimed by one of the maids. Mereka shouted a war cry and went for her with a vengeance, aiming to get past her to the doors. The maid unhesitatingly retretated past a group of now furious and bewildered guests. To her astonishment Mereka found them attacking her.
"What the..." she had time for before she grimly set to defending herself, hurling furniture to keep them away. They were cutting her off from the door. Worse still at a command from one of the other maids the statues...yes she had feared so. The statues, elegant, beautiful, soulless, were stepping down from their pedestals and purposefully moving towards her.
Two can play at that game, she thought...if only she could get some space around herself.
Shannow was feeling feverish and weak...he managed to fumble for his belt pouch where he knew a potion was...it might not heal him...what was he thinking? What was he doing? He remembered the little vial in his hands and reached with enormous difficulty, feeling in the dark for the stopper. He heard sounds of fighting, some explosive sound. He managed to swallow and just in time whipped out his sword to slash at the serpent that was still stalking him. Missed! Confounded bad luck, he couldn't believe it, where were the gods of his ancestry? Then a blow out of the darkness took him down. He fell.
* * *
Upstairs, Kallyn and Dassah suddenly were plunged into darkness. There was a cry of alarm from one of the other bathers. Dassah was terrified, clinging to Kallyn. "What happened?" she asked.
"Stay close to me." Kallyn said quietly. She was afraid too but she was on the move, leading Dassah to the pool's edge. Somehow the water didn't seem comforting anymore. She just wanted to be out. She cursed herself for laying weapons and armour aside in this place. As they moved to the edge something muscular, long and smooth brushed past her bare thighs. Suppressing a scream, she moved out and began to haul Dassah out of the pool. Dassah was pulled from her arms!
"No!" cried Kallyn, and remembering where one of the stools was grabbed for it, at least it could bludgeon...
And the lights came on. She found herself face to face with the elegant lady who had interviewed her...who was watching benignly as an awful creature, half muscular human body in armor and half serpent, earless head glistening from the water, pulled a struggling Dassah, clutched helplessly in his arms, out of the pool.
"Let her go!" cried Kallyn.
"Drop the stool." instructed the lady calmly. "Or my friend will crush your pretty lover."
Kallyn hesitated, only long enough to see Dassah's face turning dark and her hands helplessly clawing at the fearsome strength of the creature holding her. His tail coiled around Dassah's bare legs and middle, gripping tightly.
"No..." Kallyn dropped the stool, holding up her hands.
The lady smiled coldly and drew a cord from the folds of her gown. "Now...sit down, face away from me and cross your wrists at the small of your back."
Captured! Kallyn's face was hot with shame. And yet the shame could have been faced more easily had it not been for Dassah's helpless struggles nearby, and herself helpless to help....
* * *
Down below, the arachnid horror reared above Aevar again, this time coming in for the kill. Summoning his inner strength he managed to fade into the stone floor itself.
It was a horrible experience. Strange evils had been wrought here, and to one of psychic sensitivity it was awful. But he had the horrible cold feeling that he would die if he faced the thing above him. Even now it was searching for him...aware of him. He had the dread that it would not be alone long, and expended enough effort to move himself away into the slightly narrower stairway. It would probably not stop the creature for long but it would give him moments...
Re-materializing he managed to suck back a potion of cure serious wounds. Moaning he felt his leg knit, just in time for him to start to run. He reactivated his invisibility just before he came round the first bend, the horrible metallic clicking rattling behind him. Above him on the stair was a coiling, powerful man-serpent, holding a gleaming falchion, a shield strapped to a muscular arm. It looked with staring, unblinking slitted eyes down where he would come from. Aevar trembled. Could he sneak past this thing? And with the demon-spider below, coming on fast...
With a leap he rushed past the snake man. There was an instinctive blurring motion of blade that nearly touched him but missed, and he was moving, fast, up out of the underworld and into the brothel above...
Aholibamah
First Post
Kallyn and Dassah were both bound and marched naked out of the bathing chamber by the mysterious people who ran Porphyry House. Kallyn was struck by how cool the hands guiding her were. What kind of folk were these? She was struck by how the strange half-snake man never blinked, but stared with golden eyed menace constantly. His coils rasped quietly on the carpeted floor as they moved out.
They were brought into the lower levels, into a more cavernous area where there were cages with straw in them. Three attractive nude women stared at them, cocking their heads oddly, almost like animals, though their eyes were bright, intelligent, and unsettling. The madam gestured and one of the guards opened one of the cages' locks and swung the door open.
"Go inside and stand still." the madam ordered.
Kallyn was not accustomed to taking orders from anyone she did not have allegiance to and clenched her teeth. "Who are you? Why have you done this to us?" she snapped back.
The woman's hand swiftly came out and cracked across her face, hard. Kallyn felt her head snap to the left, she tasted blood. However it was hardly pain to debilitate her and she turned, glaring at the woman.
"You will call me 'Mistress', slave. Do you understand?" the woman hissed. Kallyn found her voice at that moment most unsettling...it chilled her blood somehow. The woman was staring at her, and Kallyn felt a sense of dread of disappointing her, a shivering in her body. If only she would not look at her so! She wanted to cringe, feeling her nakedness intensely, the vulnerability of her body so shameful...but no, no, NO, she had to resist this feeling, it was shock or something. She straightened in spite of how she felt and looked at the woman with a direct challenging gaze. The madam's face showed a flicker of disappointment.
"I am no slave." Kallyn said.
"Perhaps you think not." the woman said quietly. "However, will you be so proud when we start lashing the pretty skin of your lover?"
Dassah trembled as the woman drew a cool caressing hand down her bare back to her bottom. "Well?" the madam said. Kallyn was struck by how oddly serene her face was--where a human person might have lifted an eyebrow, narrowed eyes, something, this woman just stared, smiling slightly.
Kallyn felt a struggle. Part of her said that if they were captives and held as slaves their captors could do as they damned well pleased. The other part said that she had no idea what would happen and to provoke them at this stage was folly. She took a deep breath.
"I understand you Mistress." the word did not come out easily but it came.
"Better."
They were not merely put in the cages but placed on their backs and put in a form of stocks that forced them to lie helplessly, barely able to more than wriggle their fingers and toes. Kallyn felt tears of rage and humiliation. Dassah wept softly. It was agony not to be able to comfort her with anything other than words.
"I repeat my question," Kallyn said, struggling for the least composure as her ankles were fitted to the stocks. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled again, a chilling evil smile. "We are the Yuan-Ti--the Serpent Folk, the secret rulers. And why? Because you have foolishly invaded our sanctum. And now...you will await our pleasure."
The abomination of man and snake hissed in some strange language, and both he and the madam laughed. As they did, they saw their companions led in. Ini and Corwin similarly naked, cursing and bruised; Mereka narrow eyed with fury and outraged, gagged and bound; Jon Shannow half dragged in, his face with a disturbing sick greenish cast; Zanith unconscious in the arms of one of the guards along with Patch the raven.
Behind this little procession came a tall woman whose hairless head was partly covered in a translucent green veil. She was the tallest woman Kallyn had ever seen who was not some kind of giant. Majestic and somehow disturbing, she looked with cold reptilian eyes at the group. A distinct sense of deference to her was paid by the other Yuan-Ti.
"So. These are the fools who dare to come to spy on me." she said in a resonant voice.
"We are just mercenaries." Kallyn said angrily. Mereka struggled to say something but to everyone's horror the guards holding her began to beat her ruthlessly, slamming mailed fists into her head. Blood spattered the wall. They were clearly reluctant to remove her armor by cutting straps, since it was of quality. With her head hanging, blood dripping from mouth and nose, she was unresistant as they began to remove it. Kallyn fought tears.
"Mercenaries?" the tall woman sneered. "Are you indeed? The contents of your packs and other gear proves otherwise. You are New Edomite soldiers. Spies. You have come for some purpose other than to just amuse yourselves. And you will tell me what that purpose is."
* * *
Aevar had managed to rendezvous with Marlee, who was now in human form again and lurking in an alley.
"Now what?" she snapped, glaring.
"Bone." he replied, his voice cold. "Bone owes us some help."
The streets were rather quiet--the peddlers and lurkers near the brothel seemed to have fled at the sounds of magic and violence inside.
They were brought into the lower levels, into a more cavernous area where there were cages with straw in them. Three attractive nude women stared at them, cocking their heads oddly, almost like animals, though their eyes were bright, intelligent, and unsettling. The madam gestured and one of the guards opened one of the cages' locks and swung the door open.
"Go inside and stand still." the madam ordered.
Kallyn was not accustomed to taking orders from anyone she did not have allegiance to and clenched her teeth. "Who are you? Why have you done this to us?" she snapped back.
The woman's hand swiftly came out and cracked across her face, hard. Kallyn felt her head snap to the left, she tasted blood. However it was hardly pain to debilitate her and she turned, glaring at the woman.
"You will call me 'Mistress', slave. Do you understand?" the woman hissed. Kallyn found her voice at that moment most unsettling...it chilled her blood somehow. The woman was staring at her, and Kallyn felt a sense of dread of disappointing her, a shivering in her body. If only she would not look at her so! She wanted to cringe, feeling her nakedness intensely, the vulnerability of her body so shameful...but no, no, NO, she had to resist this feeling, it was shock or something. She straightened in spite of how she felt and looked at the woman with a direct challenging gaze. The madam's face showed a flicker of disappointment.
"I am no slave." Kallyn said.
"Perhaps you think not." the woman said quietly. "However, will you be so proud when we start lashing the pretty skin of your lover?"
Dassah trembled as the woman drew a cool caressing hand down her bare back to her bottom. "Well?" the madam said. Kallyn was struck by how oddly serene her face was--where a human person might have lifted an eyebrow, narrowed eyes, something, this woman just stared, smiling slightly.
Kallyn felt a struggle. Part of her said that if they were captives and held as slaves their captors could do as they damned well pleased. The other part said that she had no idea what would happen and to provoke them at this stage was folly. She took a deep breath.
"I understand you Mistress." the word did not come out easily but it came.
"Better."
They were not merely put in the cages but placed on their backs and put in a form of stocks that forced them to lie helplessly, barely able to more than wriggle their fingers and toes. Kallyn felt tears of rage and humiliation. Dassah wept softly. It was agony not to be able to comfort her with anything other than words.
"I repeat my question," Kallyn said, struggling for the least composure as her ankles were fitted to the stocks. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled again, a chilling evil smile. "We are the Yuan-Ti--the Serpent Folk, the secret rulers. And why? Because you have foolishly invaded our sanctum. And now...you will await our pleasure."
The abomination of man and snake hissed in some strange language, and both he and the madam laughed. As they did, they saw their companions led in. Ini and Corwin similarly naked, cursing and bruised; Mereka narrow eyed with fury and outraged, gagged and bound; Jon Shannow half dragged in, his face with a disturbing sick greenish cast; Zanith unconscious in the arms of one of the guards along with Patch the raven.
Behind this little procession came a tall woman whose hairless head was partly covered in a translucent green veil. She was the tallest woman Kallyn had ever seen who was not some kind of giant. Majestic and somehow disturbing, she looked with cold reptilian eyes at the group. A distinct sense of deference to her was paid by the other Yuan-Ti.
"So. These are the fools who dare to come to spy on me." she said in a resonant voice.
"We are just mercenaries." Kallyn said angrily. Mereka struggled to say something but to everyone's horror the guards holding her began to beat her ruthlessly, slamming mailed fists into her head. Blood spattered the wall. They were clearly reluctant to remove her armor by cutting straps, since it was of quality. With her head hanging, blood dripping from mouth and nose, she was unresistant as they began to remove it. Kallyn fought tears.
"Mercenaries?" the tall woman sneered. "Are you indeed? The contents of your packs and other gear proves otherwise. You are New Edomite soldiers. Spies. You have come for some purpose other than to just amuse yourselves. And you will tell me what that purpose is."
* * *
Aevar had managed to rendezvous with Marlee, who was now in human form again and lurking in an alley.
"Now what?" she snapped, glaring.
"Bone." he replied, his voice cold. "Bone owes us some help."
The streets were rather quiet--the peddlers and lurkers near the brothel seemed to have fled at the sounds of magic and violence inside.
someonelse
First Post
Bring it back!
Hey, what ever happened with this game? I was really into reading that.
Hey, what ever happened with this game? I was really into reading that.
Desdichado
Hero
D'oh! Just realized that those posts were all a year ago.
Oh, well. Not like I haven't been guilty of abortive Story Hours before.
Still, I loves me some Scuttlecove. Great little mini-setting.
Oh, well. Not like I haven't been guilty of abortive Story Hours before.
Still, I loves me some Scuttlecove. Great little mini-setting.Triceratops
First Post
This was actually my game, my email changed so I couldn't log in with the same name. The group kind of fell apart for various reasons but I thought in the next while I might finish off the story, since the group ultimately did play the rest of the adventure out. So I'll post the rest of the story if anyone's interested.
carborundum
Adventurer
Oh yes please!!!
Triceratops
First Post
Some kind of motley street militia, shadowy and vague in the evening's remaining light, were gathering and muttering at a couple of street corners. Aevar heard snatches of words. "Dragon." "Magic." He muttered to Marlee, "Let's be discreet as we can till we get to Bone's. We may have stirred up a hornet's nest."
Marlee snorted. "Indeed. Maybe we should just go." Her strange eyes challenged Aevar's.
Aevar bit back an angry retort as they skulked there in the alley. "My lady....we cannot stay here, and we cannot abandon our companions. At the very least we will need them in order to gain the piece of the Book of the Dragon and so that we can regain your horde."
For what seemed like a very long moment Marlee closed her eyes in thought. Her stillness was inhuman. Aevar was painfully aware of the militiamen gathering their courage and a few of them moving out into the square surrounding Porphyry House. The flickering remnants of one of the vendors' fires backlit profiles with crossbows, spears and swords standing muttering.
Marlee finally opened her eyes. "I agree. I cannot think of another group of adventurers who would be as likely to help regain my horde. Let us go to see Bone. But...if Bone cannot help us then what can we do?"
Aevar shook his head. "No time to think about that now. I'd rather not have to deal with the watch, or whoever these people are."
They both stealthily made their way through the alley, ducking and weaving around dangling laundry lines (all empty--clearly no one left their laundry out at night here) dodging reeking trails going into sewer grates and being generally as alert as rabbits on a moonlit night.
* * *
The tall woman's reptilian eyes gazed coldly, without mercy, ruthlessly into Kallyn's. "You will tell me why you are here. You value the lives of your companions. Your foolish friend was beaten simply as a warning. But that was mere crudity. We have more subtle means of torment."
Kallyn felt her heart sink. It was one thing to be tortured herself, another altogther to watch Dassah and her friends be tortured. She felt sick at heart at the thought and didn't know what to do. Mereka choked and spat blood on the floor nearby.
The strange woman made a slight gesture. Two of the guards seized Dassah. Her soft vulnerable nakedness in contrast with their ornate armour made her look completely helpless. Dassah could not suppress a shriek as she was dragged forward. Other Yuan-Ti moved towards her.
"No!" cried Kallyn. "Don't!"
The woman looked at her. "You have three heartbeats to begin talking or we will begin to hurt her. And I warn you, when we do we will not stop until you will wish you were deaf to her screams. If you do as we say you and she will merely be kept as slaves."
Kallyn almost threw up with tension and dread. She felt so low at the thought of betraying her oaths but could not stand for Dassah to be hurt.
She took a deep breath. Suddenly her eyes were blinded by tears. "We were sent to spy on this area because it is being used as a supply port by our Republic's enemies."
The woman did not blink. She hadn't blinked the whole time. "Tell me who sent you."
Kallyn was amazed in a way. The earth did not swallow her up; she had not been struck by lightning. Somehow she still lived. The dank smell of the place, a faint reptilian punk assaulted her nostrils. "We were sent by Lord Aholibamah of the Great Council of the Republic."
The woman was relentless. "And you and your companions. Tell me your names."
"I am Kallyn Finnhald. I am a lieutenant of the Army of the Republic. My companions are Mereka Fabian, Jon Shannow, Corwin, Ini. My wife, Dassah, and the raven is patch, the pseudo-dragon is Zanith." Kallyn said, her throat aching as she revealed this.
The woman hissed. It seemed more mirth than menace, menacing though it was. "What incompetent spies you are. I believe you, Lieutenant Finnhald. How amateurish your pathetic Republic is, a land of bumpkins and fools. Your Lord Aholibamah sent you like lambs to the slaughter." malice lit up the inhuman cold eyes. "Now who are your missing companions?"
Kallyn hesitated. The woman looked at Dassah, and in panic Kallyn stammered out, "Aevar Arnorsson and Marlee."
"And what are they, that they were able to evade my guards?"
"Aevar is a Psion of the Council Police; Marlee is a Blue Dragon." Kallyn said. She tried not to weep.
The woman nodded. "This is of little concern to me. If they try to return they will be captured as you were. Who else have you had contact with since you arrived here in Scuttlecove?"
Kallyn was shocked by this. She stared, stunned. Sickened by her own naivete, she realized how outclassed they were. The Yuan-Ti woman stared down at her and Kallyn fought desperately to keep from weeping.
The Yuan Ti closed in around Dassah again and Kallyn opened her mouth frantically.
Marlee snorted. "Indeed. Maybe we should just go." Her strange eyes challenged Aevar's.
Aevar bit back an angry retort as they skulked there in the alley. "My lady....we cannot stay here, and we cannot abandon our companions. At the very least we will need them in order to gain the piece of the Book of the Dragon and so that we can regain your horde."
For what seemed like a very long moment Marlee closed her eyes in thought. Her stillness was inhuman. Aevar was painfully aware of the militiamen gathering their courage and a few of them moving out into the square surrounding Porphyry House. The flickering remnants of one of the vendors' fires backlit profiles with crossbows, spears and swords standing muttering.
Marlee finally opened her eyes. "I agree. I cannot think of another group of adventurers who would be as likely to help regain my horde. Let us go to see Bone. But...if Bone cannot help us then what can we do?"
Aevar shook his head. "No time to think about that now. I'd rather not have to deal with the watch, or whoever these people are."
They both stealthily made their way through the alley, ducking and weaving around dangling laundry lines (all empty--clearly no one left their laundry out at night here) dodging reeking trails going into sewer grates and being generally as alert as rabbits on a moonlit night.
* * *
The tall woman's reptilian eyes gazed coldly, without mercy, ruthlessly into Kallyn's. "You will tell me why you are here. You value the lives of your companions. Your foolish friend was beaten simply as a warning. But that was mere crudity. We have more subtle means of torment."
Kallyn felt her heart sink. It was one thing to be tortured herself, another altogther to watch Dassah and her friends be tortured. She felt sick at heart at the thought and didn't know what to do. Mereka choked and spat blood on the floor nearby.
The strange woman made a slight gesture. Two of the guards seized Dassah. Her soft vulnerable nakedness in contrast with their ornate armour made her look completely helpless. Dassah could not suppress a shriek as she was dragged forward. Other Yuan-Ti moved towards her.
"No!" cried Kallyn. "Don't!"
The woman looked at her. "You have three heartbeats to begin talking or we will begin to hurt her. And I warn you, when we do we will not stop until you will wish you were deaf to her screams. If you do as we say you and she will merely be kept as slaves."
Kallyn almost threw up with tension and dread. She felt so low at the thought of betraying her oaths but could not stand for Dassah to be hurt.
She took a deep breath. Suddenly her eyes were blinded by tears. "We were sent to spy on this area because it is being used as a supply port by our Republic's enemies."
The woman did not blink. She hadn't blinked the whole time. "Tell me who sent you."
Kallyn was amazed in a way. The earth did not swallow her up; she had not been struck by lightning. Somehow she still lived. The dank smell of the place, a faint reptilian punk assaulted her nostrils. "We were sent by Lord Aholibamah of the Great Council of the Republic."
The woman was relentless. "And you and your companions. Tell me your names."
"I am Kallyn Finnhald. I am a lieutenant of the Army of the Republic. My companions are Mereka Fabian, Jon Shannow, Corwin, Ini. My wife, Dassah, and the raven is patch, the pseudo-dragon is Zanith." Kallyn said, her throat aching as she revealed this.
The woman hissed. It seemed more mirth than menace, menacing though it was. "What incompetent spies you are. I believe you, Lieutenant Finnhald. How amateurish your pathetic Republic is, a land of bumpkins and fools. Your Lord Aholibamah sent you like lambs to the slaughter." malice lit up the inhuman cold eyes. "Now who are your missing companions?"
Kallyn hesitated. The woman looked at Dassah, and in panic Kallyn stammered out, "Aevar Arnorsson and Marlee."
"And what are they, that they were able to evade my guards?"
"Aevar is a Psion of the Council Police; Marlee is a Blue Dragon." Kallyn said. She tried not to weep.
The woman nodded. "This is of little concern to me. If they try to return they will be captured as you were. Who else have you had contact with since you arrived here in Scuttlecove?"
Kallyn was shocked by this. She stared, stunned. Sickened by her own naivete, she realized how outclassed they were. The Yuan-Ti woman stared down at her and Kallyn fought desperately to keep from weeping.
The Yuan Ti closed in around Dassah again and Kallyn opened her mouth frantically.
Similar Threads
