From alt.pub.dragons-inn Tue Feb 14 12:12:40 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8131 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!news.uoregon.edu!psgrain!rainrgnews0!news.teleport.com!news.teleport.com!not-for-mail From: stiltman@teleport.com (Stilt Man) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [Tor][AD] Alliances and Treacheries Date: 13 Feb 1995 14:09:56 -0800 Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 Lines: 562 Message-ID: <3holbk$4v@linda.teleport.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: linda.teleport.com [ADMIN: Well then, we finally have a few actual credits to take care of here. Corey Venour provided his usual invaluable help, and Alex Young provided a great deal of remarks and suggestions WRT his character, Shifter, who was introduced last post and finally achieves sentience in this one. I didn't feel like sharing the hamster-shredding duties this time, so I fired up the brush chipper myself and handled that part. Aside from that, all I did was sit around and fill up Corey's advice page with pyschotic ravings.] Kryalla immediately vanished from the surface of the small Plate when the creature took on its hostile shape. The gray-skinned creature with two heads diverted one of its trios of eyes to keep an eye out for the Shrouded One, while the other snarled softly at the threat it knew of in front of it. Emrikol knew he was not abandoned, but she had not informed him of her intent. Were he not in a potential battle for his life, he would find it amusing that he actually had forgotten himself and expected otherwise of her. He had little time to laugh as the monster changed form again, this time to a large single headed demonic creature. It sprang at him with inhuman speed, talons clawing for his heart. The runes acted only partially to blunt the force of the blow, but he was still hurled off his feet and pinned beneath the creature. If he wanted a closer view of the thing's emanations and how they might resemble the Vortex, he thought bitterly, he had his opportunity. The runes lit up brighter in instinctive response, but dimmed again. Emrikol frowned. It was as though the creature was dampening his magic in defense of itself. Emrikol's instincts took only a moment to correct the problem. The reality was that he was pinned beneath the creature. The possibility was that he was no longer beneath the monster, but standing on his feet a short distance away. The runes left the reality and reached out to the possibility, wove it into being, and the creature suddenly found itself snarling incoherently at the soft rock of the Plate beneath it. A scarlet lance of power stung the thing a moment after, knocking it head over heels onto its back. The creature had had a large hunk of its mass blown away, but its form quickly went plastic, the hole in its hide closing up while its feet overhead vanished and reformed beneath it. Again seeing only Emrikol, the thing lunged for him again. This time his runes were a bit quicker to react. The thing had exhibited the ability to dampen magic before. This time the runes acted on the possibility that the creature very simply could no longer find him either, as it could not find Kryalla. Its ability to see him where he was was off, as though its eyes could not focus on the spot where he stood. The creature stopped again, puzzled. No sooner had this occurred, than a large black hawk swooped from the sky and sunk its talons deep into the creature's back. The demonic creature shrieked as what would serve for its spine was severed. The hawk returned to the ground, resumed the shape of Kryalla Simuel, katana in hand. She looked at the thing sidelong, as it struggled to recompose its spine before they struck again. "In my opinion it would not be safe to hold this creature in captivity." "I agree," said Emrikol. "I regret that we can't study it alive, but I just can't put my people in that kind of risk by bringing it back while it's this dangerous." As though cognitive thought suddenly found its way into the thing's brain, its eyes widened. It shrivelled and shrunk to a small, wispy green thing skulking on the ground, its limbs scrawny and its eyes wide and blue looking up at them in fear. This time, Emrikol was pleased to note, it only had one head, two arms, two legs, and looked reasonably humanoid. "Please, don't hurt me," the creature begged. "I'll be a good boy. Just let me live a little longer . . ." The birds-egg blue eyes welled up with tears as it grovelled shamelessly before them. Emrikol looked at Kryalla in barely-hidden outrage. She smirked back at him. "Perhaps that possibility should have been mentioned ere he became hostile," she said with the slightest tinge of amusement in her voice. "Yeah," Emrikol said disgustedly. He bent down to the cringing thing on the ground. "You be a good little boy, and maybe we won't have to clean you off the castle floor with a hairbrush." "Shifter will be a good little boy," promised the thing, smiling from ear to lobeless ear and nodding emphatically. "Shifter, huh?" said Emrikol. His lip curled in disgust. "Can you take a shape any less ugly than that?" The creature suddenly sprung up, the green hue of its skin brightening to pink, "his" hair sprouting from the back of its now fairly human head in white locks. Yellow eyes with no pupils or irises stared back at him. "Will this suffice?" Emrikol looked up at whatever passed for sky. Kryalla nodded slightly. "That will suffice." She, herself, looked at it in a sidelong manner, as though not certain what this apparent change of heart meant. "Might I ask if you have any spare clothes for me? This would be rather embarassing to go home in," Shifter said, looking down at his nude body. "That is where we're going, correct?" Emrikol made an indescribable expression combining annoyance and confusion. "Yes, that's where we're going . . ." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Shifter could almost thank the sorceress or whoever she was. That blast of magic jolted him back into sentience. Not that he was in any real danger - or at least, not from their magic. The warriors disappearing trick was effective, but the man's spell of misdirection or illusion was probably intended for mundane senses, not a shapeshifter's. The reality-manipulation of his spells had thrown his senses for a while, but a shapeshifter had many different sorts of senses. The woman, on the other hand, clearly was widely experienced in a large myriad of methods to deceive the senses, and thus he had been unable to get more than very brief glimpses of her throughout the battle. On the other hand, discontinuing the battle and making an apparent plea for mercy was, partly, intended to allow them to think they could dominate him, and mostly to end their threat for the time being. His biggest fear was that his instinctive response to threats would cause him to once more lose himself. Ever since he had woken on this barren forsaken rock, he had been trying to piece himself together again. Every time he seemed on the verge of being in control, he would shift into another form and lose his mind. After a while he would shift back. He would have to learn control. Meanwhile, it wouldn't hurt to see how long he could lull these dolts into a false sense of security. They knew things about this world that he seemed to have forgotten. He was sure he could get them to reveal enough to prod his memory, and then he could get back to normal. Whoever or whatever that was. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "You say this Vortex has likely caused the destruction of this world?" asked Arcania of the face of Kronos, now peering up at her from the waters of the crystalline pool in her sanctum. "From your own notes concerning the interrogation of the man Emrikol when he was your guest there, it is fairly clear that this world was once similar to our own," said Kronos. "This K'al has reduced it to this collection of rubble with his experiment." "The levels of raw energy this Vortex puts out, according to your written report," she leafed through the pages that he had sent her through the portal, "are not particularly encouraging to any thoughts that we might just leave our two enemies alone there." "Indeed," said Kronos. "I think it very possible that Emrikol could gain control of this thing with his bloodlines and the probability-twisting runes he bears. He was a duke here before, which made him one of the best in the world at controlling the smaller power fonts. I see no reason why he would be incapable of controlling this Vortex as well, once he had attuned his magic to do so." Arcania sighed angrily. "This K'al, you say, has very little actual skill in refining the energy he draws through it?" "Yes," came the reply. "But your judgment of his overall ability was not particularly favorable, either, is that correct?" "Yes," answered Kronos. She turned away from the image in the pool. "So this upstart Duke took a shortcut and ripped the Vortex into reality, thereby destroying his own world and gaining raw power that he cannot refine, but which nevertheless could very well stretch the limits of the finite, is that your assessment of what has taken place here?" "That is my guess as to how this K'al had his origins, yes," replied Kronos. She turned back to him. "You realize that this comes at a most inopportune time, my dear Lord Kronos. I have a High Dragon Lord who is showing potentially treasonous motivations, I have an alliance of two non-trivial powers in the south who have their eye on the main continent, the crusaders of Mithras are frothing at the mouth to use this as an opportunity to at last be rid of me, and now you are telling me that the Shrouded One and the Man with the Bandaged Hands might well get control on virtually limitless raw energy on this other world." She shook her head. "As dangerous as it is to leave Thyaris again with all these other developments forthcoming, this warrants my personal attention. I cannot risk having those two return here with the energy of the Vortex behind them and putting at naught my efforts of centuries. However, your generalship will be required here in no great time, I would wager. You may remain there only for a short while, but keep in contact with me while I am there. Your leadership on the battlefield may be needed back here." "I understand, Empress," he said respectfully. "Then I have your leave to continue my search for them?" "For now," said Arcania. "I will keep a few minions from the vaults prepared to meet me on Tor'el. I will need to study one of the power fonts and perhaps the Vortex itself. While you are searching, draw a list of potential targets for a quick strike, one with a power font that is poorly defended and might be wrested without a great deal of expense." "It will be done, Empress," replied Kronos, bowing a small amount. "Will there be anything else?" Arcania rubbed her square chin a moment. "You say that K'al considers himself the ruler of all Tor'el at this time?" "His power lays claim to it, yes," answered Kronos. "Is it likely that he has spies within the household of Emrikol?" she asked. Kronos hesitated. "I suppose." "Then your primary goal will be only to find a suitable target for strike and study. K'al will locate our enemies for us," said Arcania, smiling for the first time since Kronos began his report. Kronos hesitated again, before replying in an affirmative. Arcania waved her hand over the pool, and he was dismissed. Arcania signalled to the guard at the door, and her personal servant Rudaj was admitted. "There are rivals within the ranks of the Dragon Lords, correct? Wyrms that might profit from a loss of face on the part of this Talan?" "Yes," responded the wraith-like robed sorcerer. "And there are also rival clans within the dwarven kingdoms, are there not?" "Indeed," the wraith was smiling within his hood. "Send a summons to the most likely rivals who would be most willing to put forth a challenge for those respective thrones," she said. "You expect that some sort of intrigue is afoot with this High Dragon Lord?" asked Rudaj. "Kollain was an arrogant bastard, but he knew his place," said Arcania. "This Talan has too many schemes of which he shares little for my tastes. I have my suspicions that the urge for autonomy he has exhibited may run to a possible insurrection. I will see how he fares in his siege of the dwarven lands he has promised me, but with an eye to treachery." "I will undertake these tasks immediately, Empress," said Rudaj, bowing out of the room. Arcania sighed, looking back at the now blank pool of water. Hopefully this would at least be interesting, she thought. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Arcania appeared high in the sky of the world of Tor'el, the Necklace of the Crescent dangling over her collarbones. However, she amended in her own mind, the point of reference which would qualify her as being high up was rather difficult to attain. Kronos' report on the condition of this world had been accurate. A huge swirling blue pool of light, a great gash in the fabric of reality, dominated the scene. Scattered in orbit about it were several tiny hunks of rock. The entire system had been hurled into its own minor plane of existence, she noted. K'al had probably done it when the singular planet of Tor'el had shattered. She herself was surrounded by a sheath of green fire, which both kept her warm this far away from any source of head and which protected a bubble of air for her to breath. It quickly became clear, however, that this world had plenty of its own air to draw into her lungs. The sphere of fire assisted her in flight, however, so she left its magic in effect nonetheless. Her keen senses could detect several smaller sources of energy similar to but smaller than the Vortex. All of these occupied larger asteroids which careened about the festering wound in space. These, no doubt, were the homes of the power fonts, now being maintained to keep the larger hunks of stone from falling into the Vortex. Arcania Dorval took mnemonic note of everything she observed, allowing nothing to escape her notice. What she quickly found was that the largest of the planetoids which remained had no power font residing upon it. In fact, there was little reason to believe that such a large piece of rock would still be intact under these conditions without it. Arcania focused her truesight spells upon this large abode, determined to learn what it was that kept it in existence as she approached it. The brilliant flash of azure light that lashed out at her was almost wholly unexpected. The bolt of energy overwhelmed the shield that protected her, biting down into her personal defenses with a fury she had rarely, if ever, encountered. Fortunately, her own wards were sufficient to prevent what part of the blast that penetrated the shell from inflicting any lasting injury. She took stock of herself, now under concealment of veils of invisibility that even her own truesight would have difficulty piercing. Her lip was bleeding, and several aches made themselves known all over her body. Perhaps a sprain or dislocation here and there, but these were being healed even now by her body's magic. However, Arcania quickly added up the writing on the wall and deduced that the shell of flame had saved her life here. Had she not had it protecting her, with only her own personal defenses betwixt her and that strike, the Necklace would have been left floating in space here, trying to regather her soul and reconstruct her body ere it fell into the Vortex itself. It could survive even the blast that had struck her, but its survival in contact with the Vortex was improbable. So this rock was the home of the renowned K'al, Arcania deducted with no particular effort. Arcania waited, observing to see if whatever force had launched this attack would be able to see through her veils and cloaks and strike again. Nothing happened. It was apparently as Kronos had reported: K'al was very powerful in terms of raw energy, but not well-skilled in the subtler sides of power. It came to Arcania that she had returned from one shattered world where the philosophy of artless force ruled only to arrive in another, more literally shattered world where that extreme was even more prevalent. She slowly hovered down to the surface of the rock, the silhouette of a large palace shaping against its sharply-curved horizon. She could feel the eyes of her assailant reaching out into the ether, trying to find whence its target had fled. No doubt K'al was trying to ascertain whether or not she had, in fact, survived his initial assault. She set her feet down upon the soil and began her trek up to the fortress. What few guards were posted here were complacent, as though their master's magic kept anyone from setting foot here, let alone surviving long enough to reach the gates. Arcania could make out several charred outlines of human beings scorched onto the rocks, making it evident that whatever assault the other dukes had made here had not succeeded whatsoever. Arcania strode boldly past the guards, into the courtyard betwixt outer wall and central palace. With her veils in place, the guards never flickered an eyelash at her passing. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "I do not like this," mused K'al as he gazed furiously into the glass of the sphere before him. "First Emrikol appears with some lady love of his that can evade my all-seeing eyes, then this other woman appears, approaches my home, and vanishes. She was not destroyed . . . I saw a glimpse of her, battered but very much alive, before she disappeared. She must be alive. She must be found . . ." "Perhaps the finding will not be as difficult as you would think," came a sultry female voice from behind him. K'al went rigid, but made sure to form the unseeable force field about himself ere he turned to face his uninvited visitor. What servants that stood watch within his work chambers wisely cleared away. K'al whirled, and sent a second strike at the spot whence the voice had come. One of his tables was splintered underneath the force of the blow, but no cry of pain came from his enigmatic guest. "Tsk, tsk," said the voice. He spun to find the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, seated on the edge of a bench smiling at him with ruby lips below the most captivating sapphire-colored eyes he ever knew. Her platinum hair fell to her waist behind her. Her leather fatigues were torn here and there, the marks of her previous bearing of his wrath well visible to him. "I come to observe and make alliances, and you try to kill me without even hearing my words." K'al responded with a third attack, shredding the bench. The woman was abruptly no longer at the point at which he struck. Instead, he found her sitting on a dresser across the room from the bench. "We can be at this all day, my dear," she said. K'al's eyes narrowed angrily. "Who are you? Why do you plague me with your viper's tongue?" "My name is Arcania Dorval," said the woman. "I am here because agents of mine have already met with you concerning a possible revolt on the part of one of your agents." K'al recognized the name. "And what have they to do with any real threat to me? It seems to me that you pose the greater threat, sneaking into my own chambers and taunting me. For aught I know, you could have killed me before you announced your presence." Arcania stood, walked up to K'al, towering over the masked master of Tor'el by half a head in height. "Indeed. Take my neglect to do so as proof of my good will," said Arcania. "I see," said K'al. However, he made no relaxation of his shield. He could sense the unbelievable strength of will of this woman, will great enough that she seemed almost a demi-goddess in that as well as in beauty. The unearthly quality of this woman made him afraid, made him distrustful of her presence, her intentions. He could now well understand how it was that Lord Kronos came to serve such a one. "Then state your purpose, Arcania Dorval," said K'al. "And do take care that you do not tax my time overmuch in doing so." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Kryalla and Emrikol returned to the latter's keep, the form of Shifter being that of an avian creature fluttering over the castle walls. Kryalla had suggested that he not take any humanoid shape in arriving, and make his presence unknown to any of the castle servants. Emrikol had not had the foggiest idea why, but he knew there had to be a good reason which Kryalla was not sharing. "Typical," he muttered to himself. This earned him a glower from Kryalla. Damned if he'd ever get used to having a woman around that he both cherished and who could seemingly read his mind. After cleaning themselves up and a change of clothes on the part of Emrikol (Kryalla never seemed to wear much except the same ebon fatigues; Emrikol wondered how it was that her leather clothes always appeared polished, the black fabric of the Shroud always clean and deep sable in color), the two of them reported for dinner. Syandria spoke up quickly, impatient for a volunteering of information. "So, how was your exploration?" Kryalla looked about slightly, then spoke up. "We encountered something rather interesting on our trip. We . . ." she looked up briefly at something behind Emrikol's right shoulder, then continued, "found nothing of consequence. The entire escapade told us very little we did not already know of the Vortex and its nature." Emrikol blinked at this sudden shift of tone in the middle of a sentence by the Shrouded One, particularly when the later part was utter falsehood. He looked at her in confusion, then another feminine hand reaching over his right shoulder almost made him half-jump as a loaf of bread was placed on the table before him. He looked up and saw Brianna absently looking around the table to see if anything more was needed, then bowed out of the room. He turned with a wise look on his face to Kryalla. "You think she's dirty?" he asked quietly. "I know . . . that she is dirty," Kryalla replied, equally quiet. "How?" he asked, knowing she wouldn't answer. "I have methods," Kryalla replied, satisfying his prediction. Syandria looked back and forth between them, then back the way Brianna had left the dining room. She half-sputtered in outrage at the suggestion that one of her most loyal and hard-working servants was a spy. "What are you saying? You are saying . . ." Kryalla placed a gloved finger over her lips, calling for silence. "She listens," she silently mouthed. Emrikol and Syandria nodded, Emrikol trusting Kryalla, Syandria a little more indignant but bowing to her son's judgment of their guest. "I am saying," Kryalla spoke up as if in answer to her host's question, and it was immediately clear that she spoke not for their benefit so much as for that of their eavesdropper, "that I am not convinced that there is an easy way for us to wrest control of the Vortex from K'al. I believe that the only answer to your ills is to facilitate an exodus from this world, flee his influence altogether. Sooner or later the Vortex will devour Tor'el, and we can do naught to prevent it. We can only save the lives of those who are left." "But that's crazy!" Emrikol half-shouted, though he smiled as he did so. His back was to the doorway Brianna had used to exit, so he could get away with this. "How are we going to get . . ." "There are only a few thousand of you left," said Kryalla. "Every month the Vortex claims a few more of those with its unnatural light burning the flesh of you all." She shook her head. "It is the only answer." "I think she may be right, Em," said Syandria, realizing what the purpose of this. "It may be the only . . ." The conversation went on, and Brianna heard every word from the next room. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= K'al interrupted his own conversation with Arcania when the signal came. He bowed politely to her for a moment, then turned back to the crystal ball. The servants around the room ignored the whole affair as they labored to clear the evidence of battle from his study. "You called, Brianna?" said K'al. "Yes, Master," said the spy. She saw Arcania standing behind him and hesitated. "You are busy. I will call back later . . ." "You will do no such thing, my dear," said K'al in a soothing voice. Brianna seemed to be more worried by the tone, but tried her best to conceal it. "Give your report." "The Duke and the Shrouded One have returned from their reconnaisance of the Vortex," said Brianna. "The Shrouded One began her briefing with something that seemed to confuse Emrikol, as though she read more into the situation than he, and had not told of her knowledge yet. She then convinced the others that flight from Tor'el altogether was the only solution to their problem." "No doubt a wise decision, rather than deciding to challenge my power," K'al nodded. Arcania turned away from the sphere, frowning so that neither K'al nor Brianna could see it. "Was there anything else?" "No. They found nothing other than confirming what they already knew of your power," said Brianna confidently. "Excellent," said K'al. "Continue your observation, and report to me on the progress of this exodus." The image in the crystal ball leaped and was again the masked sorceror's reflection twisted by its curved surface. "Well, then, Arcania," said K'al to her back, "it seems that your aid is superfluous. You may leave my presence." "I would like to ask your permission to stage an assault with my minions on that castle," replied Arcania. K'al blinked in surprise. "Whatever for? They are fleeing from me, and are thus beyond my concern." "They hide something," said Arcania. K'al frowned dangerously. "What makes you think that?" "Your minion said that Kryalla inferred something more than Emrikol knew, that he seemed confused as she explained that they found nothing more of the nature of your Vortex," said Arcania. "I think that what she inferred that Emrikol did not know was that your woman is a spy in his household." "You seem to be suggesting that I give my agents insufficent abilities to avoid detection," said K'al. "That is precisely what I am saying," said Arcania, her eyes flashing angrily at his arrogance. Despite his position of strength, he found himself blanching beneath the glower of those twin sapphires. "You are used to others who use means of power similar to your own, with raw energy and little more as their mechanisms of might." She smiled at him. "You do not know my enemy, nor her ways, nor the slightest hint of what might be going on in her devious little mind." "And you do, I suppose," he was reduced to sarcasm. "Yes," she hissed. "She knows something that she wanted to keep hidden from your agent. They found out something far different from what your mole was allowed to know. I intend to learn what that is." She softened her tone, became more diplomatic. "I only need know which of these gods-forsaken rocks happens to belong to them. If I am right, you are rid of a potential threat of which you knew nothing. If I am wrong, you lose nothing." "Indeed," he agreed grudgingly. "Very well. My agents will inform you as to the location of the home of this renegade Duke of Tor'el." "I will not bother you with my presence again unless you should require it," Arcania bowed shortly in simple politeness and whirled to leave the room. K'al nodded angrily in the direction in which she had gone, slowly turning back towards the sphere. "Brianna . . ." he began. A moment of running sounds came through the ball, then Brianna's face appeared within once more. "Yes, my liege." "You are about to have more visitors there," said K'al. "I want to know everything that this Arcania Dorval wench does there. And if you get the opportunity . . ." He hesitated, knowing that this was a very dangerous enemy to have. Her power base paled before his, but her brilliance and strength of will made her less trustworthy. ". . . if you get the opportunity, deal her out of the story," K'al finished. +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ + Kryalla Simuel the Shrouded One + +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ + . . . scribed by the Stilt Man, + + stiltman@teleport.com + +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-= Corey Venour -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- cvenour@cit.gu.edu.au -=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~cvenour/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-