From alt.pub.dragons-inn Tue Apr 25 08:26:52 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8371 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!imagen!rpal.rockwell.com!news.Stanford.EDU!not-for-mail From: tolsen@leland.Stanford.EDU (Tanya Ann Olsen) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [CB] Fish Tails and Other Things Date: 24 Apr 1995 22:49:50 -0700 Organization: Stanford University, CA 94305, USA Lines: 172 Message-ID: <3ni2hu$hgb@elaine19.Stanford.EDU> NNTP-Posting-Host: elaine19.stanford.edu #13 Fish Tails and Other Things Athorbalo went back into the bathroom and returned a few moments later with another huge stack of towels. She gave them to Cernborn, who was already removing his wet clothes, quite adroitly for someone with the bottom half of a fish. She dried his back off as he toweled the rest of his body. He was soon dry, and his face contorted with the pain as he transformed and his lower half turned back into human legs. When Athorbalo turned around to allow Cernborn some privacy, she noticed that her pendant was glowing again and tucked it inside of her tunic. Cernborn took one of the larger towels and tied it around his waist. Athorbalo looked towards the door, wondering if they should pursue Cernborn's unknown assailant. He detected her impulse and shook his head. "He is already long gone, or he is waiting for us to follow him into a trap. I am sure that he will be heard from soon enough." Athorbalo sat down on the bed and held her head in her hands, "I cannot stand this!" She looked into Cernborn's eyes, "If we don't start moving around sometime, I'm going to go crazy!" Cernborn returned her gaze and said, "I am sorry to have caused thee such troubles, I should never have gotten thee involved." Athorbalo looked up, "You did not cause me any trouble, I was the one who insisted on checking things out on my own. You could not have known what would happen to me." There was a shadow of a tear in her eye as she spoke, "I'm just so damned sick of sitting here and waiting for an attack." "I am as well! I see that I am just a target here; I had hoped that my arrival in this land would go unnoticed for a time, but it appears we must assume that Marque as well as his allies know I am here and act accordingly. As soon as the others return, which I hope is soon, we will leave." He sighed, obviously quite tired of the whole mess. "In the meantime, if it is not too much trouble to further impose on thee, wouldst thou be so kind as to go to my room and fetch a dry change of clothes for me? I do not relish the thought of moving about the corridor in naught but a towel." He held out his room key for Athorbalo to take. "Others will probably misconstrue the circumstances." He smiled, not totally unpleased by the thought. Athorbalo started to reply but was interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. The two exchanged glances, wondering who it could be this time and both preparing for the possibility of another attack. "Who is it?" called Athorbalo, a hand on her dagger. "It is we: Gyles and Mi'cha," came a muffled, but familiar, masculine voice. Both Cernborn and Athorbalo visibly relaxed. Athorbalo headed to the door and opened it. Gyles and Mi'cha stood there looking slightly beddraggled and quite fatigued. Athorbalo ushered them in, making them avoid the pile of wet clothes on the floor. "We see that things weren't totally uneventful for you two," said Mi'cha as she made her way to a chair and sank down in it. She pointedly looked at Cernborn who was still wearing nothing but a towel. Gyles' sharp eyes noted how the leg seams were all split in the pile of wet clothes on the floor. The comments the hired thugs had made at the warehouse suddenly raised a lot of questions in his mind. Looking around the room for further clues, he noted the silver tray with the untouched meal upon it. "What happened here?" he asked as he started to investigate the clothes pile on the floor more closely. "Do not touch those!" ordered Cernborn. "There may yet be some traces of poison lingering," he clarified. Gyles stopped his inspection, but raised a questioning glance. "An assassin attempted to murder me by lacing that silver tray with poison." Cernborn proceeded to tell them the details of what had happened, minus his own transformation. "Ah, that explains much," responded Gyles though he began to get the idea that something else was going on that Cernborn was reluctant to divulge. "We found the place where Athorbalo was taken and as expected, it was a trap." Gyles continued to narrate the details of the warehouse incident. He wrapped it up by saying, "I learned only a tantalizing bit from the hired thugs. As is usual, they knew next to nothing of the real plans, but they were hired by Marque. They also appear to have met with Marque or someone sent by Marque every morning just before sunrise near the marketplace to report back and receive any new instructions. If Marque does not yet know of his trap's failure, perhaps we can be at the meeting place tomorrow morning in their place?" Cernborn and Athorbalo digested what Gyles related. "Yes, if we fail tonight, we can arrange a surprise for him in the morning," replied Cernborn after much thought. He appeared to be debating with himself, struggling to come to a major decision. The others simply watched him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. Finally, he appeared to have made up his mind, "There is something else you should know before we continue. I had thought to keep it secret, but it could turn out to be harmful. From what thou hast said, Gyles, it appears that Marque already knows and I would only be handicapping those who are helping me by keeping silent." He turned to Athorbalo, "Wouldst thou fetch the basin with water and bring it to me?" She nodded and retrieved the basin from the bathroom, emptying it, rinsing it, and filling it partway with fresh water. The other two looked at him with puzzled expressions. Although he had made his decision, it was obviously very difficult for him to continue. Athorbalo handed him the basin, not sure exactly how he was going to use it. Cernborn sat back on the bed making sure the towel left his legs quite exposed. He took a deep breath and set the basin in his lap. "This is what happens when I get wet," he said as he dipped only his fingers into the water. His face was seized with pain as the transformation started. Mi'cha gasped. Gyles simply stared. About 6 seconds later, Cernborn sat before them with a fish tail instead of legs. "As you can see, this condition seriously hampers my mobility out of water. I have some ways to counter it, but if I am caught unprepared, I may have to rely on one of thee to help me while I find the time to make myself dry again or get to water." Cernborn handed the basin back to Athorbalo and used the edge of the towel that was still wrapped about his waist to dry his fingers. A much more intense pain gripped him as he regained his legs. Gyles was dumbstruck. He had heard of a people that lived in water, but the concept of doing so boggled his mind. All the water he had seen today was more than he would have seen in at least an entire year, and now, here was a being that required more water than that to simply live. It explained much of what he had seen, but it was still a struggle to actually deal with it. Mi'cha was surprised, but she had actually met a merman before. She had never heard of the merfolk allying itself with humans, yet Cernborn wore the colors and badge of a human house, a very old human house and claimed to be a lord of that house. At the very least, she thought, it will make an interesting chronicle if I can ever get him to explain it. "I can see the both of thee are fatigued from the day's events as well as quite wet. Perhaps we should all rest for an hour or two before we continue. That will give you time to get dry and comfortable and me a chance to recuperate from the poison. Though I suggest we at least stay in pairs if not together; there appear to be unfriendly eyes and ears everywhere." Cernborn stood up and headed for the door. "I need to get a change of clothing, and then I want to take care of some business with the innkeeper." Athorbalo jumped up. "I'll go with you," she said, willing to do practically anything to get out of the room. "Very well," replied Cernborn. "We should be back in about 20 minutes. Do not touch the clothes or the tray for now. I need to be sure they are cleaned up properly so that none of Littlefair's staff is injured. If you leave the room, put the notice on the door so that the maid does not enter." -------------- Lord Captain Cernborn tolsen@leland.stanford.edu Athorbalo hilanse@wkuvx1.wku.edu Gyles Dormani virtuesr@gps1.laafb.af.mil Mi'cha Ning'ra jmc@ataxia.confusion.net