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In all honesty, Darian seriously considered giving up on this. Mordraneth was nothing to her... she had never actually met the man. Alsander seemed like another pushy, know-it-all wizard like Pentagarn. He may have been exaggerating the threat to motivate her, she thought suspiciously. In any case, she now had a moment to ponder what she would do.
Darian decided to head back toward the ship. Not really knowing where this island was would make it very difficult to get home. She wasn't sure what she'd do when she got to the ship. Would she turn home, and forsake this noble quest? Or would she stay and risk her life again?
One thing that bothered Darian was how Alsander had left her to face Mordraneth alone. He'd said how he only had enough power to teleport out. And he said he needed to warn the other wizards. But if she killed Mordraneth, there wouldn't be anything to warn the other wizards about. Obviously Alsander didn't think she would succeed. He'd effectively sent Darian on a suicide mission.
Darian grappled with these issues as she walked about an hour back toward the mud track. Arriving there, she pulled out her torch, and casted Continual Light on it again. She was planning on using this if she decided to go back into the tunnels. She didn't know drow could cause darkness at will. She had learned, but the hard way. Seeing the craggy peaks in the distance, she turned onto the mud track. She had one spell left, and she decided to fly again. Pulling out her feathers, she glided into the air.
Flying was fun. She really wished it was innate for her; so she didn't have to spend an hour every morning studying her boring spellbook. As she loosely followed the mud track, she glided and curved a bit. She was very curious to explore the rest of the island, but her fatigue kept her on course. She could think of a million reasons why she should get on that ship and leave this horrible island. She'd accomplished all she came here to do: freeing Alsander. Wasn't it his responsibility to defeat Mordraneth? And no one could blame her for not trying!
Now Mordraneth was warned. He also knew Alsander was free. But he didn't know when or if Darian would return. In fact, Mordraneth might assume she'd given up. And drow are very proud. She was sure the drow she faced would tell Mordraneth he overpowered Darian. Which was partly true.
Darian flew low over the mud track when she knew her spell was getting close to it's limit. She waited for that heavy feeling, and made a running landing. She continued the long trek toward the Reef Giant's cave.
{Let me know how far she gets. If the ship isn't there, she wants to have a nice sleep in the Reef Giant's cave. She badly needs spells!}
It was a testament to Darian's foul mood what she thought of Alsander. He had one teleport left, and was otherwise unable to help. A wizard without spells would be worse than useless. Further, warning the wizards could be considered a contingency plan. He had no way of knowing whether Darian would succeed in besting Mordraneth, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. Unfortunately, when Darian was in a bad mood, she had a tendency to be uncharitable.
Reaching the coastline, she could see something through the fog. A ship? Yes! She could faintly see the masts of a sailing ship. Obviously Garaeth had returned.
Darian immediately headed toward the shore.
{If she can find her beached rowboat, she'll use it. Otherwise, she'll have to signal the men using her torch. Anyway, if she makes it to the ship...}
Darian started talking almost as soon as she got off the rowboat. Garaeth looked at her incredulously.
Darian spoke to Garaeth. "I really need you guys to wait here for me, about another two days. Is that possible? In fact, even better would be if some of your men could help me. I must kill an evil wizard. I really don't want to face him alone!"
"Wait a moment... hold on... You want my men to WHAT?!? They are seamen--sailors! Not warriors and certainly not slayers of wizards! None of my men signed on for that sort of thing, and neither did I!"
Calming down, Garaeth said, "Now, Darian. I don't see that Alsander feller. Is he alright? Either way, I'm prepared to take you back, if you want. I can stay another two days, at most. But I'll be honest with ye. Are ye sure ye want to go back there? It sure sounds like it. You ain't looking as good as ye did when I first saw you, no offense. Ye're pale, and ye look like you saw the face of Modius himself!" He made a sign to ward of evil. "I'd rather ye stayed alive. Wizards can be nasty business, they can." He looked down. "Ye can do as ye wish. If ye do want to go back, I wish ye luck. Ye'll lose no respect from me or me men if you want to head back now. Clear as a sunny day, you've been through a lot."
Darian paused for some time. It now seemed so futile for her to throw herself at Mordraneth. He was so powerful, and she was so... alone! It occured to her it was not her responsibility to defeat Mordraneth. She could do better by informing Calidor and her friends, and mobilizing against him. It was obvious to her that Mordraneth needed Alsander's spellbook opened. Without Alsander, perhaps his plans were delayed.
She swooned on the deck of the ship, almost fainting from fatigue. With a half-smile, she tried to make it look like she was sitting down, rather than nearly collapsing. How long had it been since she slept? She couldn't remember.
"I'm soooo tired..." said Darian. Normally, when she said that, she was flirting. This time, she meant it. "Let's go home," she said, with a sigh. She knew Calidor would have to go back. But she wasn't Calidor. Thank god.
Darian, in her typically sophisticated way, fell asleep on the deck.
Darian woke, reluctantly, to a gentle shaking. With sleepy eyes, she looked around. Apparently, she had been moved to the cabin she had stayed in on the journey there. A crewman was tentatively trying to wake her.
"Miss? Miss? We've landed. It's time to go."
She realized that she had slept for the whole trip back! Shaking out the cobwebs, she got off her bunk, gathered her gear, and headed to the main deck.
{Before Darian left the ship, I'd like her to ask Garaeth the name of the island and where it was; maybe he could show her on a map or just describe it.}
The island didn't have a name, but Garaeth pointed out its location on a map. Then Captain Garaeth, along with several crewmen, wished her goodbye.
Instinct led her from the moment she got off the ship. She headed for the northern gate to the city... headed outside... to Castle Hawkwind. It wasn't a conscious thing. While Griffin Castle was the place she called home, it seemed that the towering structure that was the duke's citadel had become a focal point to her adventuring career.
She wasn't sure what she would say or do once she got there. She could gloat, but she knew her victory was far from a complete one. As she mulled it over, she saw the tall central tower of the castle appear over the horizon. Quickening her steps, she hurried forward.
As she drew near, she knew something was up. There were more than the usual soldiers moving about, and there was a sense of... urgency about the place. Heading to the gate, she was making to saunter past the guards posted there when one stopped her, demanding her business. She rolled her eyes, but was taken aback at how serious he seemed.
"I'm here to see Cali-- Lord Hawkwind. It's important news about Irolo. Hey, don't you recognize me? I'm Darian!" she said, realizing at that moment she wasn't as comely as usual, due to her recent quest.
The guard's features softened, but he still seemed on edge. "Irolo? Great, more good news," he muttered, the sarcasm in his voice clear. "I'm sorry for giving you trouble, but at this point no one enters the castle unless they live here, have a pass, or have legitimate business within. Seeing as you don't seem to be here on a social call, you can enter." He ushered her through the gates.
Perplexed, she entered the main courtyard to see dozens of soldiers, drilling, marching, and sparring. Calidor was here, in his armor, barking orders to various officers, recieving messages, studying maps, and generally keeping things organized. He was obviously quite occupied with what he was doing, as even though his gaze passed Darian once or twice, he hadn't registered her presence.
Darian wanted to speak to Calidor, but he was obviously busy. Still, she felt neglected. It wasn't every day that a sultry woman in a skin-tight bodysuit and black leather walked through the courtyard.
{Just a minor point, Darian's boots, gloves, belt, and pack are black leather. That's not all that unusual. Calidor's boots, gloves, and belt are also black and leather.}
Something had obviously happened here; higher security seemed to be in place. Darian decided to head inside the castle, to find Andarra or Kayla. Perhaps they would know what was going on. It was also a chance for her to present some of her findings from that evil priest.
Darian went inside, and first went to the upstairs meditation chapel. Kayla practically lived there, while Andarra, while spending less time there, was there regularly. However, neither was present. An underpriest said that Kayla was "away" and Andarra was currently in the infirmary.
It only made sense. Andarra considered herself a healer before everything else, and spent a great deal of time in there... to the point that all in the castle considered it to be her domain, over which she had absolute authority. Kayla's arrival had complicated things somewhat, because the newcomer had a strong tendency to ignore established boundaries. More than once Andy had fumed when Kayla walked in without knocking.
In any case, Darian went downstairs again, and into the infirmary. It was simple and cozy, which suited Andy well. Jars of medicinal herbs lined the shelves. Andarra was seated at a workbench, grinding something with a mortal and pestle. Unlike the others, however, there were few things that Andarra didn't notice, and Darian's arrival was one of them. She gave Darian that amused half-grin she knew so well, and said, with some surprise in her tone, "Darian, you're here! Somehow, with everything going to the underworld in a handbasket, I had a feeling you would show up." She laughed. "No insult. You never could stay away when things got interesting. Anyway, seeing as the only time I ever see you here is when you want a healing potion, you'll have to stand in line."
At least Darian was noticed by Andarra. Fortunately, Darian was used to her sarcastic manner.
"Andarra, what the hell is going on here? Why are there so many guards around?!" she asked.
Andy sighed. "They're not guards, Darian. They're soldiers. The difference is that guards stay in one place, and fight people who attack a place. Soldiers are more, well, pro-active. That is, they go out and meet an enemy. And that's what these ones are for. We have a new, or rather, very old enemy to fight."
Andarra stood up, and began to pace around. "You've been out of the loop for a while, so I guess you need to be filled in. Well, recently, most of our crew went looking for the last two rings. Lenear, Rand, Rikus and Kayla have gone south, and are still there as we speak, looking for one, while most of the rest looked for the other, which was closer to home. We found it, but it also brought an omen. Shortly after we got back, the rings got very hot, and very heavy, for a short while. At about the same time, Elrond the prophet had a vision. He said, 'He is awake, and he is free. The world screams in pain at his presence. Amathar walks again, and the five are now whole,'" Andy explained.
She looked deep into Darian's eyes. "Our scouts have reported major events in the land of Amathar. The scum who live there, the orcs, humans, and others, are rallying under one banner. A black one, with a blue flame topped by an iron crown. In addition, a dark cloud has literally appeared over the land, in a sort of vortex over a single spire... Carn Dum, the Witch King's fortress. The Witch King Amathar has returned after 5000 years, Darian, to complete the task he started. To free the Dark Gods, and bring about the last battle. I mean the LAST battle, the end of everything. Everything's chaotic, and everyone's mobilizing. Things are a total mess. Thyatis has closed its borders, so no-one's sure what they're up to. Astibar wants to face the Witch-King, but they want to do it alone, as the 'impure heretics' are too 'unclean' to face a power like him. So you can see why everyone is a little bit tense," Andarra concluded, with her usual gift for understatement.
"Amathar?!" Darian said, blushing. "Uh, would that have something to do with the Children of Amathar, by any chance?" Now Darian felt really bad. Could it be her fault that all this was happening? Is it possible that Mordraneth was a key component in this "dark gods" thingy? Darian felt sick.
"Oooh, I don't feel so well..." said Darian. "I was supposed to kill this wizard named Mordraneth, a Child of Amathar. I tried, but I failed. I thought we could all go there now, and kill him together. But I think it's too late, now."
Darian wondered what she should do. Then it suddenly dawned on her, and she put her hand on her face: "Ohmigod! Vanestin owes me 800 gold!" she said, and immediately ran out of the room. Darian quickly moved toward the stables to borrow a horse. This was much too important for walking.
"What if he wasn't at the Duke's Repose?" she thought. She rehearsed in her mind how she would convince Vanestin that she had freed Alsander. Vanestin owed her 800 gold, no matter how you looked at it. She'd kept up her end of the bargain. He'd promised her gold AND glory. Somehow she doubted the second promise would hold.
{She's going to get to Auspelis quickly, and go to the Duke's Repose.}
Darian left before Andarra could get in a word. As she saw the brown-haired young woman depart, Andarra gave a bemused sigh. She seriously doubted that this was Darian's fault. From what Pentagarn had said before his demise, the Witch-King had been stirring for some time now, and that it was not a question of if he would awaken, as to when. Still, it was troubling that one of his agents, Mordraneth, was it, was apparently running loose and active. This was going to be a hard struggle.
Things had not gone well for Darian. All the horses were being used for military purposes, and she had the misfortune of bumping into Sir FitzGeoffrey as she tried to borrow one. He was crusty, and clearly considered Darian to be a nuisance at the best of times. Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Grumbling about stuck-up old farts, she resigned herself to walking.
{Time passes.}
Darian arrived at the Duke's Repose, ignoring the looks from the well-to-do patrons at her bedraggled appearance. Marching to the innkeeper, she demanded to see Vanestin. The innkeeper looked at her blankly. "Vanestin? I don't think we have a guest here by that name." Checking his ledger, he said, with forced sympathy, "Ah, there WAS a Vanestin here, but he checked out oh, four days ago."
Darian was depressed. She'd done her job, and resented only agreeing to 1200 gold. Now, she realized she'd be lucky to see a crown more than 400. To top it off, she looked awful. People were staring at her, and she could feel their suspicious eyes following her.
Darian needed a comfort-makeover. She decided to spend some time and money in town, getting cleaned up. Maybe she'd eat a hot meal for a change.
{You decide where she goes; probably the usual places, to eat, get cleaned up, and stuff. I figure it should take 3-4 hours. What time of day is it anyway?}
{It's mid-afternoon, about 2-3 O'clock}
Darian realized that she had never made any arrangements with Vanestin as to where and when she would be paid... if things went well, she may just see her money. Of course, Vanestin might just decide not to pay her at all, the way her luck had been running.
While her bodysuit was clean, as nothing seemed to stick to it, the rest of her was not. She briefly pondered going to Serge's place... and decided against it. Serge tended to take a bit too much license, and definitely had his own ideas on what looked good. Besides, he was very, very wierd.
Instead, she headed to a bath house. In the city, most people lived in tenement houses, and did not have a bath of their own. Indeed, many people did not bother to bathe at all. So she headed to the large structure which was the Auspelis Bath House.
The place was privately run, and was quite rigidly stratified according to class. Usually, middle-to-lower class folk couldn't dream of affording the whole "treatment", and had their own areas. Darian, however, had money to spend, and needed pampering. She forked out the 25 gold pieces, and had a warm bath, massage, with oils, perfumes, and a makeover.
Two hours later, she emerged, feeling much more relaxed. She headed to the Mug for a drink and a bite to eat. She still tended to think of it as Rand's place, even though he had sold it to Pontick. Still, Pontick didn't water down the ale, and the meals were hearty and filling, and tonight was no exception, with a hot beef stew.
Darian then headed back to Hawkwind Castle, for more details about what was happening.
Finally, she decided to head back to the castle. The sun was past the horizon by the time she arrived, and she barely tolerated the nonsense the gate guards were putting her through lately. The bustle inside had died down, and she headed into the main keep. From here, she pondered who to talk to.
Darian tried to find Andarra again. She wanted to show her the nice unholy symbol with the matching bracelet.
Darian found Andarra in the chambers she and Lenear shared. Neither one was fastidious, so the place was dauntingly messy, if not actually dirty. Andarra smiled on seeing her. "Two visits in one day! That, I believe, is a record for you!", Andarra chuckled.
Darian showed her the symbol. Andy's expression darkened. "I know that anywhere. That's the symbol of Modius, Lord of the Pit. He's the god of death, darkness, and tyranny, and is the ruler of the Dark Gods. I suppose you could call him Pelor's opposite number. They're brothers, you know. Yep, the three greater gods are brothers: Pelor is good, Modius is evil, and Boccob represents the balance of the two. I'm not all that surprised you found it, based on your story." Privately, Andarra was amazed at Darian's ignorance of religion. She knew that Darian was not religious herself, nor was she particularly interested in such things, but this was basic theology that anyone in the Old World could tell you.
"I don't know about the bracelet. The carvings on it are pretty gruesome. Is it magical? If it is, I wouldn't be wanting any part of it... I have a bad feeling about this," she concluded, using one of her most oft-used sayings. One thing Darian knew, was that Andarra relied more on intuition than logic. She based much of her decisions on feelings, hunches, and instinct. She had to admit, Andarra's hunches had a way of being true.
Darian thanked Andarra. Both knew Darian had to know what the bracelet did. Darian was just glad Calidor hadn't seen it; otherwise he'd try to snatch it away.
Andarra sighed as Darian left. This was one area where she and Calidor differed. Calidor would indeed try to take the bracelet away, to keep Darian both from using evil tools and to keep her from hurting herself. Andy, on the other hand, believed that Darian had to make that decision for herself. She was far from happy about Darian's curiosity towards items she knew damn well were evil, but sometimes people only learned to be afraid of fire when they got burned. In any case, if she later saw Darian wearing the damned thing, she would then do her best to get her to give it up, even buy it or have Rand steal it when he got back. That would be a worst case scenario, of course. First she would try persuasion. Darian talked a lot about opposing evil, though most of it was just talk. Hopefully, she would make the connection.
She decided to head back to her little gate-house. It wasn't a castle in her mind, despite it's stone walls and turrets, arrow slits and permanent complement of guards. But Griffin Castle would have to do for the time being. How could Darian ever afford a *real* castle, when she doesn't even get paid for the work she does?
Once again, Darian suffered from "greener pastures" syndrome, where whatever someone else had was seen to be better than what she had, even if this was not true. Darian had no idea that castles were not simple commodities, to be bought or sold. You had to get permission from whoever ruled the land to own one, and that usually meant you had to be a noble. Further, there was a distinct pecking order when it came to castle size. Calidor had a very big castle because he was a very powerful noble. Less prominent lords had smaller castles. Finally, even if she somehow managed to get the permission of the king, or Calidor, the cost of building a castle the likes of which Darian wanted was astronomical... tens, even hundreds of thousands of gold pieces. Fortunately for Darian, none of this entered her head. She would have a castle, pay a couple hundred gold for it, and that would be that.
{She wants to try giving one or two of the mercenaries some gold to escort her back to Griffin Castle. Hey, no one likes traveling alone! Let me know if I can do this.}
Darian found that most of the soldiers bristled at being called "mercenaries", even though she didn't see the difference. Most turned down her offer, being loyal, disciplined army men.
However, even in the best of armies, there are always one or two who lack the discipline of their comrades. Darian, who was known for having sporadic bouts of good fortune, found such a pair. They were willing to escort her home for 5 gold each, a fairly steep price, which they explained by saying they'd be in deep trouble if they were caught going "ay-wol". She didn't know what that meant, but they seemed to think that they'd be in big trouble if they were caught. Besides, 10 gold wasn't that much to Darian.
She walked back to Griffin Castle in the dark.
{Let me know if anything interesting happens. Are they going to let her in?! Anyway, whenever she gets back, she wants to cast Identify on the bracelet.}
The trip was peaceful, probably on the account of the armed soldiers accompanying her. The guards did let her in, seeming to assume her escorts were official. Hurredly, they began to head back. She quickly found out that Griffin Castle was "on standby", and the guards were fortifying. It was frustrating to realize that the guards and staff of Griffin Castle treated her more as an extended guest than a master. They obeyed her, unless their own superiors told them not to. She didn't like the idea that her castle wasn't really "hers" in a true, ownership fashion.
Heading to her room, she started the Identify spell.
{Is there a spell or anything I can use to give Vanestin a message that I would *really* like to get paid?}
{No spell that Darian knows of... she could send a message by more conventional methods, such as by courier, or perhaps by carrier pigeon.}
{Are you sure I didn't find any priest scrolls on this adventure? If I did, I would have kept them for sure. Damn. I just realized I forgot to grab the priest's mace on my way out.}
{I believe she found a Protection from Good and Cure Serious Wounds priest scroll. Note that such a scroll is useable only by a priest.}
Darian settled down to cast her identify. This was a taxing, but very useful spell. She sat down, placed the bracelet on her lap, and began to meditate.
When she came out of her trance, she knew about the item. The bracelet was quite powerful. It allowed the wearer to cause wounds with a touch.
{Bracelet of Cause Serious Wounds, 3/day}.
It was also unquestionnably evil. With the spell, she learned that if it was worn by someone who did not "follow the darkness", that its bite would be felt by the wearer.
{Darian also wants to identify that potion (the one in the iron flask). I don't think she used that yet, did she? I remember it was deep red, but not likely a healing potion.}
{Andarra can tell you that. It's a potion of Superior Healing, sort of a super potion of extra-healing. It restores 6d8+3 hit points, or broken in to 3 2d8 doses. It's potent, though. If you drink more than one such potion per day, the second potion causes 6d8+3 damage because of the OD.}
{The next morning, Darian wants to appraise her diamond tiara, and her ruby brooch. First she'll look at it, then she'll get this confirmed in Auspelis. She also wants to sell the two priest scrolls and the bracelet (should fetch a good price!).
{I'll just give you a sum total: Ruby Brooch: 170 gp Bracelet: 10 gp for its gold value. Tiara: 150 gold. 2 Scrolls: 45 gold total. Less appraising fee, message fees: -21 gold.}
{Darian wants to pay to send a message to Vanestin by conventional means. Actually, she wants to send two identical messages, one by pigeon, one by mail. The messages should read something like this:}
As per our agreement, upon the freeing of one wizard named Alsander
from imprisonment by Mordraneth, a sum of 1200 gold pieces is owed for my
services. Alsander has been freed; he teleported away of his own
volition. Four hundred of such gold was received in advance. Please
deliver the remaining sum of 800 gold pieces, to the above address.
Affectionately,
Darian
To: Vanestin of Moonshade
City of Moonshade
Irolo, The Old World
From: Miss Darian Silverstone
Griffin Castle, Auspelis
Province of Buerdaunt
Durenor, The Old World
Dated Moonday, the 30th of Last Seed
Dear Vanestin,
It will take some time for the letter to arrive and be responded to, and there really isn't much more to do. Vanestin will forward her the gold, which should get to her in a few weeks, medieval communications being what they are. It was just to make ya sweat a little.
Darian came pretty close to dying at least twice. What were her odds? I know you said she rolled exactly what she needed for the drow poison, which was 15 on a d20. She only had a 30% chance of surviving that.
With the skeleton, it criticalled her when she had 11 hit points. So if it had rolled 8 damage or more (because of the +3), she would have gone down. To roll an 8 or higher on 2d8 is easy, 43/64. So the odds of her surviving were 33%. Then, she turned to run, with only 4 hit points. It got a free swipe at her, needing a 7 or better to hit. If it hit her, she'd go down, because of the +3. So to survive that, there was only a 30% chance.
So far for the adventure, Darian had a (3/10)x(1/3)x(3/10) = a 9 in 300 chance of surviving. That works out to 3%. I call that pretty lucky! And that doesn't even count any of the the other risks she took.
Luck (the trait) did play a role. It was balanced by all the bad things that happened to her. It was ironic that you had that potion while you were in such low hit points. I was a little surprised that she didn't try it in desperation. I did hint at its nature, saying it was red, but deeper with a stronger herbal smell. Not identical to a standard healing potion, but similar.
The End.
