4/15/98 THE COMING OF THE ZIOTH TURN THIRTY-TWO Ziedon was woken by Sahlman a few hours before dawn. As Sahl arranged himself comfortably on his blanket to sleep through the last watch, Ziedon quietly claimed a corner of the room and sat down. Ziedon watched over everyone in silence, his eyes frequently returning to the still form of the thief. 'How easy it would be,' he thought, but each time he lowered his hands to boost himself off the floor, he shook his head. 'No, it is too soon.' When the first light of the sun peeked through the shuttered window, Ziedon went to his bag and removed his precious book of magic. He opened it to its first pages and tried to read. He had trouble under the low light, but as the room brightened, his studies became easier. The book was getting old. The fire in Rakbaven had loosened the binding, and some pages were threatening to slip out. Almost every page showed some damage from the fire. The jagged-edged pages were lined with ash where sharp corners had flaked off. Still, the book could last another year before it had to be replaced, if Ziedon were careful. Ziedon frowned deeply at the poor condition of his book. He made a silent vow to return to his master's tower as soon as he completed his obligation to the townsman. Then, he could replace the book and save his magic from destruction. After a while, Ziedon was distracted by Ardith's almost silent muttering. Realizing where the sound came from was sufficient for Ziedon, and he returned to his studying. As she lay restless in her bed, Ardith wondered why she had so staunchly defended Korisca. After all, she _was_ a thief, representing the worst aspect of society, her actions much against the teachings she, Ardith, was spreading. Yes, the girl did seem truly repentant, and Andritha taught her followers to forgive the repentant, but... Ardith rolled around a few times, and finally, to calm herself, prayed. 'Holy Andritha,' she thought, no longer moving, 'Mother, Lover, Fighter, Bringer of Peace. I ask you for forgiveness for this sinner among us, Korisca. I do not know why I defend her as I do, nor why I trust her after she attempted to steal from us. Yet, I pray, give her -- and me -- peace.' As Ardith calmly drifted to sleep, she thought she heard a soft voice. Whether it was a message from Andritha, or one of the random games the mind plays at that state of consciousness, Ardith would never know. Still, it brought her the peace of mind she needed to sleep. "Ardith, is she not like you when you were yet a girl in your village? Does she not long for a life beyond the walls that circumstance and her own narrow view of life have built? "You took one action -- a good one -- to leave the walls and build a life as a priestess. She took another, one far less noble, but perhaps the only one she could see. "The truth is that you see her as a soul-sister. Do not blame yourself -- or her -- for the hard choices you have both made. Your guidance _will_ make a difference for her. "Sleep now, my daughter, you serve me well. Let tomorrow be tomorrow." An hour later, when the east-facing window allowed thick bands of light to sweep the room, Ziedon quietly rose and moved about, gently shaking each of his companions awake. Recognizing Sahlman's strong reflexes, and assuming that Kreemon had some of the same, Ziedon paid particular care when waking them. Like many warriors, Sahlman's attitude when he went to sleep had the most effect upon his actions when he was awakened. Since the desert man had not felt the same apprehension as some of the others the night before, Ziedon found no difficulties in rousing him. Kreemon jumped a little at the sight of the necromancer, but settled down and mimicked Sahlman's calm attitude. Both were ready to leave almost immediately. Kay woke up at Ziedon's suggestion, yawned, stretched, and was immediately ready for anything, especially breakfast. Ziedon did not even pretend to be gentle when he woke the thief. Pausing over her, he split his dark face into a grin that would be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. His hand was poised over her mouth, and quickly clapped itself down when she made an attempt to scream. With his other hand, Ziedon lifted a finger to his lips. Nodding and wide-eyed, she remained quiet as she gathered her few belongings. Ziedon left Korisca and silently packed his possessions. Before everyone was ready, he said, "Provisions, then the trail." He listened at the door for a moment, and, hearing nothing, left for the common room. "Ziedon," Ardith whispered hoarsely as the mage exited. He did not hear her. "Meideldaw," she croaked next. "Oh my, today is Meideldaw! I must pray." The young priestess dragged herself up to stand, bowed her head three times, folded her hands before her breasts and murmured words that none of the others recognized. The words were in Sarnam, the traditional language of her Church and of many others. Kay saw the priestess standing, head bowed, hands folded in front of her, muttering in that strange language she sometimes used. She knew nothing of the language but recognized some of the words, having heard them before. At first she thought to interrupt Ardith and ask what was going on, but decided against it, "Ardith must be praying," she thought. Instead, she asked anyone listening, "What about break-of-fast? I'm hungry!" Looking about, she noticed the absence of the mage. "Where's Ziedy? Hope he didn't take a lam. Is he getting us breakfast?" The common room was empty until Ziedon arrived. Ziedon found it odd that even the innkeeper was missing from his usual post. He placed himself so that he could easily watch anyone coming down the stairs, out of the kitchen, or into Grabble's from outside. After a few minutes, a tired-looking barmaid came out of the kitchen to clean the spills off the tables. She glanced over at Ziedon and widened her eyes for a moment. Soon, though, her eyelids drooped back down and she continued to clean. Ziedon's eyes flared at the barmaid's startled glance. 'Were we not to wake?' he thought. 'Did she know of our plans to travel? What does she know?' Looking at her intently, Ziedon began to recite the words of a magic spell that had proved itself in the past. His intent was not malicious as it had been two nights before. This time, he merely wanted to influence the barmaid, to alter her mind slightly. Such an action would have been unheard of outside the realm of magic; it was both impossible and immoral. Within the mages' circles, however, charming a person into obedience was commonplace. The barmaid glanced up at Ziedon again, and this time her eyes widened and did not shut. The intense gaze and unfamiliar muttering of the man before her set her stepping slowly backwards. Ziedon felt the pressure of the magic push softly against his mind. The push became stronger and stronger until it was a heavy torrent. The familiar sensations of pain and ecstasy filled him as the magic took shape. The last of the incantation left his lips and Ziedon's power broke through the barrier of human thought, and flew towards the barmaid. It did not break through immediately though. The magical power seemed to hesitate, if such a mundane word can be used to describe the sensation Ziedon felt, and that hesitation caused Ziedon just enough extra strain and discomfort that he noticed it and was concerned. Taking a breath to steady himself from the sudden weariness that always followed his spells, but that was ever so slightly stronger this time, Ziedon reaffirmed the barriers in his mind to hold in check the remainder of his magic. Ziedon looked at the barmaid to gauge her reaction to his magical persuasion. Her eyes had drooped back down, and she had stopped walking backwards. Ziedon could not be sure whether his magic had been successful, or if the barmaid had determined that her cause for excitement was over, and immediately resumed her sullen attitude. There was only one way for Ziedon to check. "And what is your name, my dear," he asked her in a gentle voice. "Sarnul." Ziedon assumed she meant to say "Sarnil," which was a rather common name in the town Ziedon was born in, but that she had said her own name so many times that she chose the simpler pronunciation. Ziedon smiled. "Sarnul," he said, letting the word roll off his tongue. "Back in my village there is a name quite similar, 'Sarnil,' which in the ancient tongue means 'Heavenly Light,' and you are such a lovely young woman that you are indeed a 'Heavenly Light'." The name, in Sarnam, actually meant "plow horse," but Ziedon was not going to take any chances. In case his magic had been ineffective against this plump but entirely unattractive barmaid, he might still be able to charm her with his personality. Unfortunately, he had never attained experience in that field. Using his lack of knowledge to its utmost potential, Ziedon quickly changed his tone. "Why were you surprised to see me just a moment ago?" Her naturally reddened face became a shade redder at the question. "Your ... cloak surprised me. Never seen someone dressed so dark." Ziedon smiled again. "Oh, it is normal for one of my profession where I come from. Haven't you seen me wear it before? By the by, where is the innkeeper? I notice he isn't at his usual station." Ziedon quickly flicked his hand toward the bar. "It's his late day. He'll come in in a few hours. No one needs an innkeeper this early anyway." "Such a beautiful voice as well as a beautiful face. Your voice rivals that of the minstrel that was here two nights ago. What was his name again? What do you know of him?" The woman seemed a little startled at the haphazard way that Ziedon was mixing compliments with questions, but she answered anyway. "Forgolon Deepthroat. He comes by every few months. Sings a lot. Don't know what you see in _my_ voice though. I don't sing." Ziedon wondered if his spell took effect at all. "My dear, you don't need to sing to have a beautiful voice. Tell me, have you heard anything concerning myself or my traveling companions spoken in the Inn or around town?" "I hear a lot of things. Tell me who you are and I'll tell you if I've heard of you." "My name is Ziedon. Have you heard anything about me or about someone who matches my description?" "Do you mind?" she asked, holding up her rag. Before Ziedon could answer, she bent over and started to wipe Ziedon's table. "No, your name's not familiar. Yesterday, there was talk of some odd-looking newcomers, but there are always travelers in Maelbourg, and many of them are odd-looking." Ziedon smiled a third time and lifted his hands to be out of her way. "What kind of talk was there about the odd-looking newcomers?" "Just that they were odd-looking, and carried weapons in public, and that they had enough money to ride horses but rode them in rags. I guess you're one of them?" Ziedon nodded. "We had a rough journey. Tell me, would it be too much of an imposition if I asked you to do two small favors for me?" "Sure. What do you want?" When the rest of the group was ready, they filed out of the door and headed down to the common room. Ardith remained still in the corner. Before she left, Kay stood in front of the priestess and gestured to herself, then pointed down, and finally pointed at her mouth. Ardith nodded her head without stopping her litany. Kay caught up with the others, and told them that Ardith was still praying, and that she thought that day was a holiday. From the stairs, the group saw Ziedon at a far table, smiling and talking to a barmaid. Otherwise, the room was empty. Ziedon did not seem to notice them. Ziedon looked apprehensive. "Well, I didn't want to presume upon you, but," he paused, "I was wondering if I could borrow some dry rations from the inn's larder and I was wondering if you would know of a horse that I could borrow as well." Ziedon paused, but quickly started up again. "Of course, I would return the horse and a like amount of rations when I completed my errand." "I don't have a key to the stables, but I can get you some food." She dropped her rag and walked toward the kitchen. "Of course, this should probably be our little secret. Thank you." Ziedon followed her into the kitchen. The group had advanced from the stairs to a table. Seeing that there was no one to serve food other than Ziedon's temporary companion, Kreemon reached into his pack and pulled out his bag of nuts, offering it to his companions. Kay turned to Sahlman and gestured toward the disappearing mage. "What do you suppose that is all about? I wouldn't have thought Ziedon was the type to... er... solicit a young woman early in the morning. What do you think, eh?" The sight was as bewildering to Sahlman as it was to Kay. He quietly chewed on a few nuts, but his eyes remained glued to Ziedon's retreating back. Sarnil opened a tall cabinet, almost a closet, and pulled out potatoes, meat and the bread made for the previous day. "You know, I can get in trouble for this. Grabble takes inventories." "I don't need that much," Ziedon said, "perhaps just two potatoes, two small pieces of meat and a little bread, I don't think that Grabble would notice their disappearance and I will replace them as soon as I can." Such a small amount of food could not normally last more than a day or two, but Ziedon had plans to extend its life. Sarnil gave Ziedon what he asked for, and he placed the food with the rest of his meager rations. "Thank you very much," he said. "You are a very kind person. Do you happen to know who has keys to the stables? Would you be able to obtain one without anyone knowing?" "Only Grabble and the stable boy have keys, and the stable boy'll be here pretty soon. I don't think you could get away with taking a horse though. Even if Grabble doesn't notice a few potatoes, he'll know something's up when a customer complains about a stolen horse." Ziedon nodded. "You are absolutely right. I will be gone for a little while traveling to a distant city. Is there anything that you would wish for me to get for you from afar to repay your kindness?" "Who knows about distant cities? What do they have there that I can't get here? If you find a city that has streets paved with gold, scrape off a few coins for me." Admiring her own uncommon wit, she laughed a slight "ha" that sounded more like a "huh." "Thank you m'dear. You have been very helpful. I hope that we have an opportunity to speak and get to know each other better when I return. You would like that wouldn't you?" "Yea, I guess so." Ziedon gave a light bow and reentered the common room with a tight grin on his face. Ardith had come downstairs and sat down in Ziedon's absence. Korisca shrank away from Ziedon's eyes when they fell on her. Any sort of smile on the part of the necromancer, she thought, could only bode ill for her. Kay elbowed Sahlman and whispered, "I think Ziedy 'got lucky,' if you catch my drift." Sahlman gave silent thanks to Ay'wah that he was not in the process of trying to swallow any food or drink when Kay made her utterance, else the spontaneous snort of laughter he experienced may have resulted in his choking to death. The barmaid came out of the kitchen shortly, and Ardith ordered a large breakfast of eggs, meat and bread. When the barmaid went back into the kitchen, Ardith gave Sahlman a long, hard look, then winked at him. "What do you make of our wizard's sojourn with that young woman. Sahl?" she whispered. "Perhaps he is more human than we have thought, eh?" Sahlman only arched his eyebrow in response to Ardith's question. His effort not to show disrespect to Ziedon by guffawing aloud prevented a more verbose reply. Ziedon came to the table then, and the conversation stopped. "Listen," Kay said. "I don't wanna walk all the way to wherever we're going, so I'm off to buy a horse." She exited the inn and walked up the lane to the nearby stable. Ardith smiled broadly at Kay's comment. 'Buy a horse?'Kreemon thought. 'She says that so easily. Maybe this adventuring business is more profitable than I thought.' In quiet agreement, Bork rubbed himself up against Kreemon's legs, almost knocking the man down. A thought occurred to Kreemon, and he spoke aloud. "It's getting late. If we're going to leave early, we'd better stock up on supplies now." The others agreed, and all but Ziedon left Grabble's for the market, assuming it would take Kay long enough to buy a horse that they wouldn't miss her. At this point, no one questioned Ziedon's remaining behind. After the others left, Ziedon struck up a mild conversation with the barmaid, more interested in getting her to talk and to listen to her voice than anything else. He heard little worthwhile information. Her life had been dull, and she seemed to have no opinions on anything. He spoke with her until the others returned an hour later. During that time, a few lodgers came down the stairs and ordered breakfast. The barmaid served each of them when they came, but returned to Ziedon every time. When she heard the price of a horse - almost a thousand aglars, Kay relented. Instead, she haggled the price of two mules down to one hundred eighty. One mule would be for herself, and one for her friend and spiritual mentor, Ardith. She also picked up a couple of saddles and saddle bags. The stable-tender was quite pleased by the time Kay left. Ardith, slightly giddy because of the feast-day, purchased water and hard rations -- salted meat, way-bread, whatever was available that would last unrefrigerated for their trek. She bought enough for two, as she doubted Kay would think of the need to eat. Sahlman, appearing calm, was actually quite excited about the coming journey. The thought of riding the magnificent horse given to the group by Ulan on the previous day had occupied his mind, even stealing into pleasurable dreams of galloping tirelessly along the road and stopping frequently to wait for his slower companions. When the small but interesting band of people, minus Galgewe but with the addition of Korisca and Kreemon, came to the stable, Sahl went about the business of saddling the new mount. Hoping against hope that no one would veto his move, he proceeded to swing astride the beautiful animal, ready to cover many miles. As the group departed Maelbourg, Sahl was surprised to note that his most predominant thought was how much he would have liked to have just one more of those wonderful baths. They took the main road this time. It would be a much faster journey than the last one; they expected it to take two and a half days to Dunweig, and another five days from there to Huerten. Ardith's map showed forest lining the road all the way, and two rivers crossing their path. On a main road, though, there would be bridges. As always, Sahlman was happiest when busy. He therefore spent as much time as possible in the van of the group. Scouting, keeping watch ahead, and covering the forward flanks occupied his time and also allowed him to mull over all that had happened since the arrival in Maelbourg. Was it only two or three days? It certainly seemed like longer, but then the late night spent chasing Korisca may have thrown off his sense of time. The nomad was still uncertain of his feelings about Korisca and Ziedon, but with a fresh trail under his boots the questions roaming about in his mind were far less troublesome. Ziedon and Korisca rode the remaining two horses, as Ardith and Kay had mules, and Kreemon had volunteered to walk. Sahlman found out quickly that his horse ate a tremendous amount of fodder, and would not graze. By the end of the first day's travel, the horse had consumed more than its share in oats, and was forcing the other horses to live on grass and leaves. Oh well, he thought. It would only be two more days until they reached Dunweig, the next stop on their way to Huerten. Sahl would have to remember to buy more fodder next time. Early in the morning, when the sun had barely begun to shine through the trees, Sahlman heard a new set of horse hooves. It sounded like at least a dozen horses, all galloping toward them from the direction of Maelbourg. The others woke quickly. *********************************************************************** It is early morning on this chilly second day of Farinon, ninth month of the moon Halkak, two hundred and twenty-sixth day of the one thousand first year of the Zioth, on the land of Aerv. /--Next New/Full Moons--\ Upcoming Events | New Full | ----------------------- | Halkak: 10/1 9/14 | Today is market day in Maelbourg and many | Tirop: 9/4 9/12 | other towns. | Ot: 9/28 9/11 | | Ilsapeich: 10/8 9/10 | | Zabrigar: 12/8 10/4 | \-----------------------/ Notes ----- All: This turn took ridiculously long to put out, due both to the slow response-time of the players, and that of the DM. Lets try to keep a reasonable pace from now on, of at least a turn every three weeks. To its credit, I guess, this turn is the longest yet, by a small margin. Please respond to this turn immediately, even if only to say that you do nothing about the horses, because I want to get to the main action of the turn as soon as possible. Standing Orders --------------- 1) Feel free to ask me about anything your character knows. If I can't answer, you might be able to make up a bit of the history of my world yourself in order to answer the question. 2) A copy of all public ZIOTH-related messages that you use the Internet to send should be posted on Fidonet. A copy of all private ZIOTH-related messages you send to each other should be sent to me so that I know what's going on. 3) If I ever intrude on your character in a way you don't want me to, tell me. I probably won't be able to undo the damage done, but I'll know to avoid it in the future. Your Bill, Sir -------------- For reference, breakfast was 3dy (11dy for Ardith who had meat), stabling was 4ag*3.5days*2horses+4ag*1horse = 32ag/4 = 8ag per original group member. Standing rations for the 2.5 day Maelbourg->Dunweig trip cost 4ag*2.5/person. Fodder costs 1ag*2.5/horse. Kay's mules cost her 180ag, plus 220 for two saddles and four saddle-bags. Ardith: 29.6ag (with Kay's food) Kay: 408.8ag (with Ardith's mule) Korisca: 10.8ag Kreemon: 10.8ag Sahlman: 18.8ag Ziedon: 8.8ag Levels and Experience Totals ---------------------------- Ardith: 3 4625/6000 (Good role-playing) Kay: 2 2375/4000 (Good role-playing) Korisca: 2 1300/2500 (Didn't sent me much) Sahlman: 3 4750/8000 (Good role-playing) Ziedon: 2 4550/5000 (Good role-playing, appropriate dialogue) *********************************************************************** * GameName RealName Fidonet Internet * *********************************************************************** * DM Eli Fenton 1:101/265 * * * * * * Ardith/ Karl Schinke 1:2604/116 * * Kay 1:2604/116.1 * * * * Korsica Julian Kite 1:333/124 * * Sahlman Shaun Sides 1:3666/113 * * * * Ziedon Alex Corbin * *********************************************************************** * (Primary addresses are the first listed) * *********************************************************************** * Zioth web page: http://hops.cs.jhu.edu/~elifenton/zioth * ***********************************************************************