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Message: <blockquote data-quote="megamania" data-source="post: 1052330" data-attributes="member: 9255">UNDER A DARKSUNSEGMENT 102“The Queen to Be”She spent the night (she guessed) in utter darkness and despair was creeping in.  She had guessed that the Hej-kin had kidnapped her for her musical talent.  What they intended to do with her once they grew bored of her scared her.  She could not communicate with the race on even the lowest level.  Only one of the creatures seemed even willing to try.  “I” as she referred to him seemed to have more intelligence and wisdom than the king, cleric or the tribe.It was he that led her to a smaller cave that was her current prison.  It was he that tried to find food for her to eat.  He was perplexed and possibly hurt by her unwillingness to eat the filthy roots and gray flesh provided.She awoke with the sound of their nails on the bare stone.  There were two of them.  They held out a hand and led her through the stone wall into a series of tunnels.  The tunnels were natural, not man-made.  “I” was waiting for them at the beginning of a second tunnel.  This one went straight down and looked to be created, not natural.  She tried to look up to the ceiling but saw only blackness.  So much for it being a well she thought.The walls were incredibly smooth with slight lines of stress within them.  They gave off only enough light to allow a sense of area, no details.  The first two Hej-kin gave I a look of apprehension before crawling backwards down into the tube.  I motioned for her to go next.  She felt around for her components and caste a spell to give her light once more.  The walls were an off-white and smooth.  Its hardness reminded her of thick bones.  The tube had an organic aura about it.  Finishing her quick inspection of the passage, she went down it next.  I gave her a few moments then followed.The tube went down about 120ft.  She was amazed how she never slides out of control going down. This obviously was found by these creatures, not created by them.  The spell continued to light her way onto a bridge.  Looking over the edge she was amazed by what she saw.  She stopped and directed her globes of light to go to the objects below.  Below where barrels made from the same material as the bridge and the tunnels.  Also was a platform with railing on it big enough to hold six people.  Pots and barrels of were stacked neatly.  It another area was heaped canvas bags, weapons and shields.  It was a strange contrast to the bone white objects that were so neatly spaced and stacked.The globes of light flickered briefly whenever near the white chitin-like objects.  Glaze sensed that the objects rejected magic somehow.  She knew not how or why but was happy her spell held up.She then was motioned to move alone so she recalled the light and came to an another tube.  Again, she went down and came out near the pile of discarded foreign stuff.  I motioned to her and to the pile.  She guessed he wanted her to get something or do something with the pile.  She looked through it and found a fine sword and a fine dagger.  There were other things here of high quality that didn’t suit her.  Glaze left these behind and continued on.  Then she found something of use.  A spellbook.  I was pleased.  He saw her expression and knew she found something she really wanted.  Still, she was curious about the items towards the back.  When she took a step in that direction the two Hej-kin stepped in her way.  I said something beyond her understanding.  His facial expression suggested a mixture of fear and respect for those items.They went back to the tunnels and the two Hej-kin merely stood within the tunnel and they began to rise.  She stood there and nothing.  Then she wondered why she didn’t rise and she began to feel weightless.  She thought about going up and found herself slowly rising.  It was psionic in nature and reacted to her thoughts Glaze decided.She was brought back to the small room and left to read her book.  She found the spell she hoped for.  Comprehend Languages.  She studied it over and over for the next several hours.  She then copied it into her small spellbook she kept hidden in her pack.  The components were a bit tricky to find.  She had salt mixed with sand within her boots.  That was no problem but a bit of ash…that was something else.  She was forced to sit and create a spark using her fire making kit and burn a page of paper.  It was expensive but truly required.  She had enough ash for two or three casting.  Now to wait for the hej-kin to return and surprise them.She awoke once more to the sound of scrapping talons on the stone.  She went to prepare the spell but could not as the Hej-kin picked her up and moved her through the stone wall.   This time there were several female hej-kin (equally unclothed and unkept appearance as the males) waiting outside.  I arrived through the wall to her right and bowed.  He spoke to his people and they formed a semi-circle around Glaze and led her to a section she had never been to before.It was still dark and hard to see where she was going.  She would have walked into several walls if not for her leaders before her.  After fifteen minutes of walking they came to a cavern with a cloth doorway.  Glaze was motioned to enter.  No one followed her.   Inside she caste her last spell of light and then prepared her newest spell.  She still needed the touch of a hej-kin to understand the language.A movement towards the back convinced Glaze she was not alone.  Out came a female wearing a robe and a piece of incredibly large ruby on a rope about her stomach.  She noted Glaze’s look and spoke with a large smile.  Glaze held up a finger to suggest her to wait a moment.  The female grew fearful once she realized what was happening.   Glaze caste her spell and the salt and ash disappeared.The female continued on.  The sounds were rough and sounded hard to Glaze’s ears then they seemed to form a pattern.  The jewel…it was a fertility item.  How did she know that?   Oh- the spell….“….and the King wants no less than 12 sons!  Does he know anything about children other than how to create them?  I would say not.  At least he will be sure to take care of me.  That is the only reason to deal with his anger and unreasonable mood swings.”  The female spots and then recognizes a change of expression on Glaze’s face.“You understand me now Topworlder?  Please tell me so!  It would bring joy to the king to know it was I whom taught you the words of our people.  I would become even more important and be treated even better by the family.”Glaze tries to convey that her understanding is going only one way.   She pantomimes and gestures for several moments.  The talkative female hej-kin stops and stares.  Her head turns to the side much like a dog does when trying to figure out something being said to it.“You understand me but you will need to speak for me to understand you.  You can speak can’t you?”“No” says Glaze in common. “Magic…you destroy the world and what does it get you?   I am Gruedela…future queen.  You are…?”“Glaze”“Glase” The hej-kin tongue was not meant to pronounce a “z”. Glaze spends much of the next 40 minutes listening to Gruedela talk about how she will gain status as the queen and other related things that do little for Glaze.  Then she finds out why she was kidnapped.  She is to sing at the wedding!Wonderful thinks Glaze.</blockquote>

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