From: peters@physics.ubc.ca (Dan Peters)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [BBD] Am I quite sure about this?
Date: 12 Jun 1993 22:00:55 GMT
Message-ID: <1vdjmnINNed3@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca>
Keywords: BBD, Kaalzic



>   Taking his leave from the table, the black cloaked ranger left the inn.

It seemed to Kaalzic that this was the appropriate moment for him to leave
also, so he muttered "see you all tomorrow" and went upstairs.

Things had gone remarkably well - he had succeeded in taking part in a
conversation with four other people, (or five, counting the newcomer at the
end), without panicking.  The scary thing was, he had also agreed to join
them in whatever they were up to, with very little knowledge of who they
were or what they were like.

But there was the matter of the bracelets - evidence that Myrnien was somehow
mixed up in all this.  And clearly, joining this group was the only feasible
way he could find her.

Another troublesome thing was that one of the apparent "enemies" was some
kind of wizard.  This, for Kaalzic, was definitely something to be feared.
On the other hand, his new acquaintances seemed quite confident in what they
were doing.

<Be prepared for disappointment>, he told himself.  <They might not be as
competent as they obviously think they are.  This may get you nowhere, or
get you killed.>

That last thought was something worth pondering further.  Taking what he had
heard at face value, there was likely to be danger - and Kaalzic had very
little fighting experience.

<Who am I to question their competence?>

He entered his room, sat down on the sleeping mat, and picked up one of the
old books he had brought from the wreckage of his cabin.  It was a collection
of sacred poetry, written by the prophets, and it was one of the very few
possessions which he had brought with him through all his journeys.  He opened
it to a random place in the middle, but instead of reading, his mind wandered.
He thought of home.  He remembered the last time he saw Myrnien.

The scene of the argument was their father's library.  The participants were
Kaalzic and his sisters.  Myrnien, the rebel, tall, strong, sharp of wit;
she was now in Generica.  And Thalei, quiet and reserved, whose smile (it was
said) could make the sun appear; she was now dead.  It seemed so petty now,
that they could have been so divided by a philosophical argument.

It was, more than anything else, Thalei's brutal death before Kaalzic's own
eyes (a few years later) that had convinced him that Myrnien might after all
have been right.

Never mind that with his lack of skill, to fight the attackers would have
made no practical difference.  He could never forgive himself for not even
having tried - for having stood still, tied down by the strict pacifism he
had been taught all his life, and the centuries of tradition behind it.

Myrnien's rejection of the tradition had not gone over well with the family.
But at worst they thought she was merely deluded.  None of them, Kaalzic
included, were ever uncharitable enough to think she had truly fallen into
evil ways - and now that Kaalzic was inclined to agree with her, he certainly
didn't think so now.

But what of the recent evidence?  She was obviously connected somehow with
this Gutt Man, and with the mysterious wizard who had been found "doing
something" to the girl Lissa.

<Didn't Lancos himself say that he and Darvos had not taken the time to observe
what the wizard had been doing?  They knew nothing of him!  And what about the
Gutt Man?  Lancos described him as a "child murderer".  If he knows the Gutt
Man so well, that certainly doesn't reflect very well on him!  And if he
doesn't, then on what basis does he describe him that way?>

Either way, it didn't give Kaalzic much confidence that he was doing the
right thing by trusting these people he had just met.

But two other thoughts imposed themselves on his mind.  The first was that
he had perceived nothing at all malicious or deceptive in any of them.  The
second was that, as far as he could remember, his first impressions of
people had never been wrong.  This reassured him somewhat.

------------------------------------------------------------

He had been lost in thought for some time when there was a knock on the
door.  Rowan Littlefair entered.

"It's good to see you're finally getting to know some other people", he said,
getting right to the point.

"How well do you know them?" asked Kaalzic.

"Well enough," said Littlefair, with a smile.  "Let me guess - you want to
know if you can trust them."

Kaalzic nodded.

"I can certainly vouch for Kryalla, Lancos, and Darvos," Littlefair continued.
"And I'd trust their judgement where any other people are concerned.  Good
enough?"

Kaalzic nodded again.  Normally, such a simple assurance would have done very
little, but given his previous train of thought, this tipped the scales more
fully in the group's favour.  He still wasn't convinced that they were right
about their "enemies", but at least they were probably sincere, and whatever
the misunderstanding was, it would likely get cleared up.

"Thank you," he said simply.  "Could I arrange to be awakened, and have some
breakfast, at dawn?  We'll be setting out shortly after that...."  <Damn>, he
thought.  <Darvos said he was going to order breakfast for all of us.  I hope
he isn't offended when I don't show up.>

"Certainly", Littlefair said, and then the conversation drifted into other
matters.

------------------------------------------------------------

The night found Kaalzic at his cabin, or what was left of it, trying to salvage
more of his belongings.  He worked by the light of a lantern he had set on a
rock nearby. 

There was a sound, so quiet that he felt it more than he heard it.  He turned
around quickly, and saw two pairs of eyes.  He calmed down immediately.

<Zana and Toric>, he thought.  The wolves came closer.  <You startled me.  Why
do you two always have to show up _behind_ me?>  Tails wagged in canine 
laughter.  <I'm glad to see you're none the worse after the storm.  More than
I can say for my little house here.>

He sat down on the edge of the rubble, and the wolves lay down nearby.  He
reached out and scratched them both behind the ears.  <No, you don't need to
worry about me.  I'm staying at the Inn.  I've met some people who might be
able to help me find Myrnien.  I haven't seen her for ten years now.>

He sat there for some time, continuing his "conversation" with his friends,
knowing that with them his conscious thoughts were the same as spoken words.
Unfortunately this communication was strictly one-way.  Occasionally he
responded to imagined questions or comments, but he knew - or at least he
believed - that they were just that, imagined.

<I have to make one more trip out here tonight>, he thought after a while,
<and then there'll be only a few hours left for me to sleep.  I have to wake
up at dawn.>  Toric rolled his eyes and shook his head.  Kaalzic chuckled.
That response, at least, was not imagined.  <Yes, I know.  No one in their
right mind wakes up at that hour.>

------------------------------------------------------------

The wolves were no longer there when Kaalzic arrived at his cabin the second
time.  And this time he finished gathering everything that was worth saving.

Later, as he slept, he had a dream.  He was in the library again, but only
Thalei was with him.

"I worry about 'Nien", she said.

------------------------------------------------------------
--
^..^      / |      Dan Peters     |  "He who would cross the Sea of Fate      |
/_/\_____/  |                     |   must answer me these questions 28."     |
   /\   /\  |peters@physics.ubc.ca|[from an early draft of Monty Python & the |
  /  \ /  \ |                     |Holy Grail, shortly after the bridge scene]|