From alt.pub.dragons-inn Sat Oct 7 11:55:59 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8763 Path: netcom.com!noc.netcom.net!news.sprintlink.net!connix.com!ajh!ajh From: ajh@connix.com (A. H.) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [FAITH] Chapter 4 - Terms (1/3) Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 22:45:01 Organization: Connix - The Connecticut Internet Exchange Lines: 250 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: alain.connix.com X-Newsreader: Trumpet for Windows [Version 1.0 Rev B] FAITH This is the story of Devious Silverblu, a.k.a. 'The Devious Paladin', and a creature that she encountered in the land of fear. It has been a while, but the story is picking up. Cast Delmara Humphrey Aaron aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca Devious Silverblu Ceredwin clben1@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au Laroo A. H. ajh@connix.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- - This article may only be copied and distributed freely. - This article may not be distributed by any organization which attempts to recover its' distribution costs and/or make a profit. - All other rights are reserved by the authors. ----------------------------------------------------------------- [FAITH] Chapter 4: Terms (1/3) At The Temple Devious stretched, her tale told. She looked at Laroo. "You ask for concise answers, I can give you few. But I ask for them too. Tell me what your price is." Was it just her imagination, or was there something between these two? Delmara was pondering the intensity of the ... inspection this man, Laroo, had given both her and Devious, but that was now mostly centered on the Paladin.. yes "inspection" was the proper word she decided. Without hesitation the man said "It will take me a little time to set my price Paladin, I want to see if I can find out more. I will meet with you tommorrow at the Inn for breakfast, early." With that Laroo spun on his heel and left the room, it was not until she heard the front door shut that Devious realized that the man did not make much if any sound when he moved. She looked at Delmara. "You, too, priestess. I do not believe in making others wander into danger without compensation. Ask what either of you will, though I doubt you have...material wants." She looked around Delmara's study. Delmara was caught off-guard by Devious's offer, and was momentarily speechless. "I...I can't think of anything offhand." Her face twisted wryly. "Ask again at the other end of this undertaking." The Paladin half-lidded her eyes and smiled. "I *am* tired, priestess, and would fain rest a little in your temple. It seems peaceful to me. Shall we spend the night here and journey forth on the morrow to find Alfvaen?" Delmara nodded. "If we go out early enough, he may not have bestirred himself yet," she said with a grin. "We usually have a few pallets around...it shouldn't be a problem." A little later Devious found Delmara again within the temple, and this time the Paladin seemed curious. "Your decorations and devices are unknown to me," the Paladin said, falling in step beside her. "May I ask what aspect of the Light - no, sorry," she shook her head, "may I ask what are the beliefs and goals of She whom you serve? I think She is a little different to my gentle Lord of Light." The Paladin rubbed at her arm fretfully "And I do not serve my Lord as well as I should." She looked up at the priestess. "My faith is failing, I fear. I have been too long away from my home. Tell me, what is She like, the one you follow?" This was a conversational topic Delmara felt a bit more comfortable with than many that had arisen that day. She could call up such tellings at will. "My Lady is named Aditi, the Goddess of Hurtful Love, of the Silken Whip. She teaches that love is often hurtful, for one side or both, and that if one side voluntarily chooses to take hurt onto itself, then the other side's hurt may thusly be lessened." Devious raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Most of those who enter her priesthood and take her oath--never to refuse one who wishes love, in whatever form--are those who have already been hurt by love many times. The hurt, like any, may pain no less, but one can become accustomed to pain. And the knowledge that one is freely suffering the pain often allows one to be shielded. In effect, we offer up our pain to the Lady." Then she stopped, having caught sight of Aitreni standing in the doorway of her room, clad in the nightgown Delmara had put her to bed in. "Jad wants to know if we're going to Founder's Day tomorrow. There'll be jugglers an' things all over the place." Delmara smiled. "I'd forgotten Founder's Day was so close. Of course you may go. You shouldn't carry much money, but I can let you have a silver or two to spend." Aitreni smiled and disappeared back into the room she shared with her brother. Devious looked at Delmara. "Offering pain..." She shrugged slightly and gave a somewhat wry smile. "We of the Lord of Light are supposed to offer love itself--any kind of love. I think that is why I am having difficulty at the moment. The...man...you saw in my visions of my home is my..." she struggled to find the word, "mate, I suppose you might say. We of the Pack and the Flight always interbreed-- only females are ever of the Flight, and only males form the Pack." She kicked at the ground slightly. "Marriage is not quite as convenient for us." She managed a grin. "My peoples are not usually sexually aware save at certain times in the year. And then the feeling is very, very strong. It is impossible to wait if one's mate is not about, and so many mate with others. But when we pair that is stronger in some ways than marriage. It is a friendship and love so deep that physical urges do not even touch it. I miss my mate very much. That is the only way love has ever hurt me." Delmara raised an eyebrow. She hadn't guessed that Devious was that different from her...for a moment she wondered whether the Pack and Flight's way was better... The Paladin looked to where the acolyte had disappeared. "No one has ever used my love against me, or deliberately tried to wound me, Delmara. In that I am lucky." She suddenly shook her head. "But other things. Your apprentice seemed excited. What is this Founder's Day?" "It's a civic holiday. I don't know if it corresponds to Generica's actual founding, but a mayor declared it so decades ago, and so it stands. It seems to be celebrated by many adventurers and passers-through, as well as the Dragon's Inn crowd." Then her brow furrowed. "I wonder...if there is some kind of adventurers' gathering tomorrow, perhaps we will find Alfvaen there, or someone who has seen him. It may make our search that much simpler... I imagine that Luthor Anside will be having some sort of affair, or perhaps 'Raelf. No matter; Rowan Littlefair at the Inn will doubtless know." She sighed and looked at Devious. "I may have told you that Alfvaen and I did not part on the best of terms. Despite my Lady's teaching, sometimes a love will cause pain merely for knowing it is not unique, and that is one thing we cannot guarantee without breaking our oaths. Though it has happened in the past that one has left Aditi's priesthood to keep such a love alive. It is one reason that She has so few followers...her way is hard." "But it is time the air between us was cleared. Friends are perhaps more precious than lovers, for love that is given without hurt is precious. And I wish strongly that we may become friends again." Then Delmara fell silent. Wordlessly, she helped Devious prepare her pallet for the night, and after saying goodnight she went to her chamber. There she lay awake long into the night, remembering the gentle touch of a healer named Radan Tsran... Devious stretched and thought. Delmara was very right, at least by her standards. A true friend was more than a lover could ever be. She smiled, thinking of her Pack mate, often silly, protective and amusing and kind hearted. They had been best friends years before the summertime fever had got into her and made her dance for him. Well, she thought, that was another reason for getting her cloak back. Then she could open the portal again, and speak to him. Just to see his gentle face... The Paladin sighed, then curled up into a ball and fell asleep... Laroo Laroo's mind was whirling: - 'If it reflects one's soul, could it not possess a soul as well?' - 'Then the Paladin could be acting for this being, or even be the being..' - 'But then Delmaras' god would not have allowed the Paladin into the temple' - 'If this creature can assume the abilities of it's victims, how would we know what we are up against?' - 'And if it can change form, it could be anyone.. or anything' - 'But we could use Delmaras' god to "test" any would be allies' - 'But suppose the creature were powerfull enough to fool a god?' - 'Then the creature would not have been trapped in Ravenloft and would certainly not bother with mortals Although this last thought made Laroo feel better, he found himself taking all the precautions he would take if he were in hostile territory, he slipped into the shadows as he left the temple, there he rendered himself invisible and from there cast the spell that would let him fly. He approached his room from the second story window, checked his wards, entered and checked everything again. He cast the spell which created the inter-dimensional space in which he usually slept. He performed his usual ritual of removing his pouches, from inside is special pockets. Each of the pouches and sacks was tied to his jacket but he always did this before entering his sanctuary as a precaution. Once inside he pondered his plan of attack: - 'Reflection of the soul' he laughed to himself. - 'Only those that believed in religion believed in souls' - 'But reflecting a beings darkest fears - Laroo used a spell along those lines to great effect. His spell created the monster in the victims' mind and it was the victims own willpower that killed him.' - 'However it did not cause them to kill themselves, therefore it was a spell of a different nature, and not one of possession either...' - 'The eyes have been called the gateway to the soul.' - 'Perhaps the spell was delivered by gaze, such as that of a medusa or an umberhulk?' Laroo prepared the spells he would study and went to sleep, which for him was usually four hours, sometimes six when he was indulgent. He awoke with a start... immediately his hand went to Ex-Paramour, the white saphire. He could see nothing unusual through the magic gate of his place without space, and magic would not operate through the gate so detection spells were useless. But it worked both ways and so, he watched for a few minutes. Satisfied that nothing had intruded into his room, he tried to recall what had woken him. He realized he had been dreaming not of the current situation, but of the Paladin. His reaction had been a natural one, he had been thinking uncharacteristic thoughts. Usually he dreamed of his current situation. He went back to sleep. He woke an hour later and studied his spells. He then gathered his belongings and cast his usual array of protective spells. Then he went down the stairs, hiding in the shadows and as quietly as possible, the Inn Keeper and the help did not notice him. Just then the Paladin walked in. She was clean and her torn cape was mended. She headed toward the Inn Keeper. The alarms went off in his mind as he recalled that the One Who Reflects could change form. He grasped the diamond he had named Clearsight and he activated the spell of True Seeing, he was more than a little surprised...