5/21/98
                       THE COMING OF THE ZIOTH
                          TURN THIRTY-FOUR


   The only emotion Sahlman could solidly identify at that moment was
confusion. Perhaps if he had been paying more attention to Ulan,
instead of checking all around for Forgolon Deepthroat, he might have
been able to better assay what was going on. As it was, nothing was as
it seemed, or nothing seemed as it was, one of the two. Either way,
Sahl was left shaking his head. He had to look around at the groveling
Ulan, just to make doubly certain that it was he, indeed, who was doing
the begging. It was. Then the feeling that someone else might be coming
reasserted itself, and Sahl returned to his vigil.
   He spoke, his words intended for Ardith even though he wouldn't look
around at her face. "How it would be for Ulan to ask for the help of
ourselves, Arditta? We do not even go to see the townsman Balban."
   The longer this went on, the worse it felt to the desert man. There
was no way for the small, rag-tag band to secure Ulan's position in
Maelbourg. On the other hand, the whining man was occupying the
attention of most of Sahl's friends, making it that much easier for
unwelcome company to deliver a nasty surprise.
   Sahlman decided to continue being paranoid while the others dealt
with Ulan.
   Korisca stood in her place. She clutched her dagger tightly, holding
it down behind the person in front of her. Her eyes reflected her
complete confusion.
   Ardith wondered at Ulan's collapse, but said nothing, as though she
had not seen it.
   Ardith saw the fluttering page out of the corner of her eye, but
chose to ignore it as well. In the back of her mind, she wondered what
had happened to make Ziedon so clumsy. It was obviously Ziedon. His
spell book was probably the only charred paper that size inside a
twenty league circle. That was no time to worry about the mage,
however. The townsman and his guard were first on her mind.
   Ardith could hardly believe the words falling from Ulan's lips.
'Time,' she thought. 'We need time. Time to think, time to find out.'
   "Ulan," Ardith said in a mild voice, "it is not seemly for a man of
your station to approach us in this manner. Please rise, have your
men --" she gestured toward the horsemen, "--stand down. Their mounts
are lathered, they could use walking down, and rest, even if the men do
not. You are in no danger from us, so let them break their fast and
freshen their animals. In the meantime, join us in _our_ humble break
of fast. Break the bread of peace with us and tell us of what has
happened."
   Ulan rose slowly and hesitantly from the ground, unable to hide his
resentment of the shame he had brought on himself. He turned his head
and signaled his men to stand down.
   Ardith took Ulan's elbow, partly to steady him and partly to guide
him, and moved him gently off the road and to the glade where they had
made their rude camp.
   "I am curious, for example," she said as she walked, "how Galgewe, a
stranger in Maelbourg, could wrest power from you in such short time.
Had he, perhaps, henchmen in town to assist him?"
   Clearly, Ardith would not say it openly, but inwardly she wondered
at Ulan -- had he indeed been in league with Balban, or had he only
made face to him, never intending to relinquish Maelbourg? Or was he,
perhaps, merely a weak man in a strong position?
   For her part, Kay could hardly believe her eyes. The powerful
Maelbourg Townsman of yesterday kneeling -- almost groveling -- before
Ardith and the company was almost too much for her. Had it not been for
the ashen, worried face of Ulan, and the calm, serious face of Ardith,
Kay might have burst into peals of laughter -- or at least a long
giggle.
   Controlling herself, Kay lowered her bow, but kept it strung and
ready. After all, four armed horsemen could still make a lot of
trouble, even if surprise was no longer in their favor. She followed
after Ardith and Ulan, but kept her eyes on the men, and her ears on
the road, in case others followed.
   "Sahl," she whispered to the desert man as they walked to camp,
"Let's be vigilant -- we don't know if there are more men coming up
behind. I smell trouble here, but I don't know which way the wind blows
the stink."
   Sahl gave Kay a quick half smile and a nod as he maintained his own
guard.
   Ulan calmed himself and answered Ardith. "Galgewe is the servant of
Balban. If I so much as hint that I disagree with him, word will get to
Balban and I will be left to the streets when he takes Maelbourg.
Galgewe needs no henchmen; he forces my full cooperation."
   Ardith nodded in understanding and mused aloud. "It would seem that
our 'harmless servant,' Galgewe, is something more than merely a
servant to Balban. Perhaps a lieutenant, or some such."
   Ardith was silent as they walked into the glade. She glanced back to
see if the rest of the Company were following, especially to see if
Ziedon remained in hiding, since both she and Ulan saw the paper
fall.

   Ziedon's mind turned from his leg to his precious book of magic. He
quickly and gently picked up the page and returned it to his book.
Only afterwards did Ziedon's eyes return to his leg.
   Ziedon looked back, and relived the events that took place in
Rakbaven: the green moss, the wound, the cleansing, the pain. Visibly
shaking, Ziedon opened his eyes to the present. 'I could not survive
another such cleansing,' he thought, berating himself for not asking
his new master questions concerning the bite and possible infection.
   Ziedon speculated on the horrors that be in store for him. Turn into
a moss creature himself, to be doomed to the life of a shapeless mass
of green goo? Or simply die from poisoning and infection? Such thoughts
were possible only for a user of magic, who had spent much of his
first apprenticeship studying the horrid variety of magical ailments
that fortunately had been largely hidden from the world.
   Ziedon thought back to the morning before, when he felt a distinct
difference in his magic. This morning, he had been studying magic when
the pain began.
   'Does it feed on magic?' Ziedon thought, and plopped down on the
ground next to the tree, forgetting all about the presence of Ulan and
his half dozen armed escorts. Ziedon rebelled against the thought. 'I
could never use magic again. A life of knowing magic but not being able
to touch it would not be a life at all.'
   The wizard's hand moved to his belt and slowly withdrew the dagger
from its sheath. Carefully, Ziedon touched the sharpened point to the
green spot, hoping to drain and purge the wound. Trying to lift his
spirits, Ziedon convinced himself that this was a mere infection that
could be cured by mundane means, or the simplest of magical ones. 'A
mere disease; those can be cured,' he thought as he treated the
infection.
   Ziedon's hand shook as he returned the dagger to its sheath. There
was nothing to drain. A white stream of pus, or even a small bubble of
green moss would have suggested that Ziedon could succeed, but all that
he could extract was a drop of his own blood. Clenching his eyes shut
tightly, Ziedon removed the message orb from its pouch, fervently
hoping that its color was different than it has been for the past
several days. 'I need an excuse to return,' he thought.
   Ziedon slowly opened his eyes, only to see the orb staring back at
him, black as ever. He opened his mouth to let out a string of curses,
but then remembered where he was. He clamped his lips shut and settled
for wringing his hands in frustration.
   Still hopeful, Ziedon decided to test his theory about magic. Seated
on the ground, he continued to study his spells.


***********************************************************************

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 was a very short turn, but at least it held together. I
suspect that future turns may be similarly short, but who knows? Last
time the turns got this short, they doubled in length soon thereafter.
   Possible responses for this turn are pretty obvious. I'll try to
send out a turn segment soon so that Ziedon and Ardith can respond more
easily.


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.


Levels and Experience Totals
----------------------------
Ardith:  3 4850/6000 (Good dialogue, Good role-playing)
Kay:     2 2500/4000 (Good turn)
Korisca: 2 1350/2500 (Ok turn)
Sahlman: 3 5000/8000 (Good turn, Good role-playing)
Ziedon:  2 4850/5000 (Good turn, good role-playing)


***********************************************************************
* GameName RealName      Fidonet       Internet                       *
***********************************************************************
* DM       Eli Fenton    1:101/265     elifenton@cs.jhu.edu           *
* Ardith/  Karl Schinke  1:2604/116    karl.schinke@alliedsignal.com  *
*  Kay                   1:2604/116.1  schinke@nji.com                *
*                                      wizard@wiztower.magsystems.com *
* Korisca  Julian Kite   1:333/124     tarathiele@aol.com             *
* Sahlman  Shaun Sides   1:3666/113    arch@sara.mmlc.nwu.edu         *
*                                      arch@mail.abts.net             *
* Ziedon   Alex Corbin                 alex_corbin@hotmail.com        *
***********************************************************************
*            (Primary addresses are the first listed)                 *
***********************************************************************
*       Zioth web page: http://hops.cs.jhu.edu/~elifenton/zioth       *
***********************************************************************