Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: arsmith@nyx.cs.du.edu (Alan Smith)
Subject: [NTY] Greetings.
Message-ID: <1993Aug17.093554.22984@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
References: <1993Aug17.032834.13551@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 93 09:35:54 GMT

It was with a mixture of disgust and shock that Palandun watched the somewhat
ertoic ceremony to Ch'Par.  That it was Gunther Toodie, of all people, who
formed the centerpiece of the exhibit didn't help his mood any.  When the
priestess finally turned herself into a cat and entered Gunther's body, thus
ending the ceremony (Palandun did not believe he saw that for quite some 
time) Palandun was moved to remark on his whole impression.
  "How did you like our little ceremony?" The Il-Shar asked.
  "I don't believe I saw that.  Do you know who that person is?" He indicated
Gunther, who was being dragged off somewhere else.
  "Just a slave, why?"
  "Not- a slave?  He's a slave?  To you?" Here Palandun broke up into gales
of laughter.  "Talk about your just desserts!" He said, wiping tears from his
eyes.  "Il-Shar, I have met that slave before.
  "He was a merchant in Generica of some little note, specializing in trade
from some place called Specifica of the Gems, which nobody had heard of, least
of all me.  Anyway, a friend of mine got a job under him, and invited me along
on a trip to see where he got his Gems from.
  "When we arrive-surprise!  The whole thing is a trap.  Anyone Gunther or
his employees took along suddenly found themselves sold into slavery to
this dragon with a fairly innovative way of looking at things.  I managed
to free myself and eventually everyone else, and sailed back to Generica
with some eight hundred real mad ex-slaves.
  "A guardsman is sent to arrest Gunther, that's his name, but he burns his
house down and escapes.  Following him is the only reason I'm in this part
of the continent at all!"  Here he breaks down into another attack of the
giggles.
  "That is indeed very ironic." The Il-Shar agrees.
  "I'll - tee hee - say.  The thing is, I have to ask you to release him
into my custody so I can bring him back to Generica for trial." minor
giggles now.
  "I'm afraid I cannot do that."  Il-Shar says, his expression neutral.
  "Huh?  Rats.  Listen, I don't like fighting after a good belly-laugh, so
let's table it for a couple days.  Besides, what's going to happen to him
now that he's the cat-god's plaything, or something?"
  The Il-Shar explained that for the next three days Gunther would serve sort
of as the incubation-vessel for the god/goddess (Palandun never got this 
streight) Ch'Par, a diety of very ancient Parahan.  After the ceremony was
over, he would be just fine, if a little more disginguished in the eyes of
his peers.  This drew the snide comment from Palandun that the slugs probably
didn't care whether Gunther had incubated a god or not.

The next day brought the arrival of the Rameshander ambassador.  There were
official greetings, much simpering on the part of the Remeshander, fury on
the part of the Il-Shar, and embarassment on the part of Palandun.  Palandun
put off any formal negotiations until after the ceremony was over, adding
a very veiled suggestion to the Rameshander and a thinly veiled one to the
Il-Shar that they get to know each other's culture better before the next
meeting.

He also got to see Gunther, who was chained up in one of the tents.  "So,"
Palandun said, "I've finally caught you.  I'd pray that this ceremony
takes longer than you think, because rather soon after that I'm taking you
back to Generica where you'll probably be killed in a rather grisly manner.
By the way, how do you like slave life?  Think any of the people you sold
to Dawg felt any better?"

He waited patiently for an answer.