Post by xerxez on Sept 20, 2023 20:02:01 GMT -6
As the Priest of Qon, Mohammad the Nuroabite, makes his declaration of an evil presence in the banquet chamber, the Fat Lord's smile disappears.
He begins to fidget, a dark storm gathering in his eyes...
"Why....you..." he begins to sputter...
Suddenly the doors of the banquet hall open...two figures stride in.
One is a servant.
The other is Be'van....the Nuroabite Shaman.
SERVANT:
"My Noble Lord, this Outlander was brought here by a Tsolyani escort...he was persuasive in his need to be here.'
Be'van, looking somewhat bored, bows to Vri'meshtu.
Vrimesthu's scowl vanishes as suddenly as it appeared.
A wide smile takes it's place.
VRIMESHTU: "Ah, revered one...it is an honor to receive you." (The You he uses is tusmisimu...You of Wide Journeying)
BE'VAN: (Wry...) "Yes...I felt I ought to be here."
Mohammad and N'rasa, as spell casters, feel a sudden psychic tension between the two...some invisible clash of wills is taking place on a wholly mental plane and the eyes of both Be'van and the Fat Lord are set like flint...there is a battle going on, which seems to end in a stalemate.
Vrimeshtu settles back, sweat upon his brow, looking somewhat troubled, though hiding it behind a grin.
VRIMESTHU: (Clapping): "Servants, this wine is not special enough to toast our special guest...ahem...take it away and bring better vintage. Tell me, revered sir...do you play Den Den?
BE'VAN: "Perhaps you could teach me, my Lord."
The fat Lord, appearing to tremble, gestures to Vortumoi to bring a board and lay it between the two.
As they settle down to play and become acquainted, normal wine is brought forth and all drink and eat in varying moods of relief and wonder.
At conclusion of the banquet, the party takes it's payment and returns to the House of the Restful Traveller...alive, if shaken.
EPILOGUE:
Following the banquet and awakening the next day at the Inn with their countrymen, considerably richer, Be'van makes all clear.
BE'VAN: "...and so, had you partaken of the poisoned wine, you doubtless all would have been paralyzed and dispatched with haste, saving Balesh, who would have been taken to a Temple dungeon and forced to operate the Orb of Instruction.
I had ways and means of finding things out...you were chosen not only because you seemed able to undertake the quest but also because you are Na'kome..clanless.
No one would have missed you, and there would have been no political repercussions for Dark Flame or the Hu'ru Temple. Dead men, they say, tell no tales.
But there is much you do not know...I am not Na'kome, in truth. My father was from Jakalla, from a High Middle Clan.
I will tell you the tale someday.
Suffice it now to say that to honor the pact made, Balesh must go to the Temple of Hu'ru and show the priests how to activate and operate the Orb, revealing it's nature. But Balesh, my son, you shall return safely."
BALESH: That day you are taken to the Temple by Dark Flame escorts.
You are taken to a torch lit chamber where armed warriors and several priests gaze upon you. Two are scribes with empty scrolls and full inkpots.
On a stone pedestal rests the Orb which was taken from Bejordi's coffin.
"Proceed," says a priest.
You lift the Orb, which seems seamless and smooth save for a strange hexagonal pattern burnished upon it...
Suddenly your mind is filled with the spirit's instruction-- as you begin to run your hands over it, the surface begins to change, opening small round slots and sprouting tiny buttons and protrusions.
A whirring humming noise is heard and green light spills out--clicking, then weird chirps and faint whispering, droning voices.
A green light takes shape above the orb which shows strange sphere like shapes traveling along tube like tunnels, with people riding inside!
Numbers and sequences of lights are shown, and all the while the scribes write furiously, one writing, the other drawing.
Balesh feels as though his mind is another time, another place, and realizes the spheres are carriages which travel under the earth in tube systems, making an overland journey of months or years a matter of hours!
He knows that if he ever finds one of these carriages, he will know exactly how to operate it.
Upon Balesh's return to the Inn, a meal is prepared.
The Nuroabites sit and eat and drink as the Inn's paid servants pour their cups.
One servant wears a hood which conceals his face as he bows deeply towards you all.
As he fills the cups, a smile appears in the shadow of the hood.
In a familiar voice, which shocks all of you, he says:
"By the Shadow Gods....was not it a game even the gods would have gambled upon?"
He begins to fidget, a dark storm gathering in his eyes...
"Why....you..." he begins to sputter...
Suddenly the doors of the banquet hall open...two figures stride in.
One is a servant.
The other is Be'van....the Nuroabite Shaman.
SERVANT:
"My Noble Lord, this Outlander was brought here by a Tsolyani escort...he was persuasive in his need to be here.'
Be'van, looking somewhat bored, bows to Vri'meshtu.
Vrimesthu's scowl vanishes as suddenly as it appeared.
A wide smile takes it's place.
VRIMESHTU: "Ah, revered one...it is an honor to receive you." (The You he uses is tusmisimu...You of Wide Journeying)
BE'VAN: (Wry...) "Yes...I felt I ought to be here."
Mohammad and N'rasa, as spell casters, feel a sudden psychic tension between the two...some invisible clash of wills is taking place on a wholly mental plane and the eyes of both Be'van and the Fat Lord are set like flint...there is a battle going on, which seems to end in a stalemate.
Vrimeshtu settles back, sweat upon his brow, looking somewhat troubled, though hiding it behind a grin.
VRIMESTHU: (Clapping): "Servants, this wine is not special enough to toast our special guest...ahem...take it away and bring better vintage. Tell me, revered sir...do you play Den Den?
BE'VAN: "Perhaps you could teach me, my Lord."
The fat Lord, appearing to tremble, gestures to Vortumoi to bring a board and lay it between the two.
As they settle down to play and become acquainted, normal wine is brought forth and all drink and eat in varying moods of relief and wonder.
At conclusion of the banquet, the party takes it's payment and returns to the House of the Restful Traveller...alive, if shaken.
EPILOGUE:
Following the banquet and awakening the next day at the Inn with their countrymen, considerably richer, Be'van makes all clear.
BE'VAN: "...and so, had you partaken of the poisoned wine, you doubtless all would have been paralyzed and dispatched with haste, saving Balesh, who would have been taken to a Temple dungeon and forced to operate the Orb of Instruction.
I had ways and means of finding things out...you were chosen not only because you seemed able to undertake the quest but also because you are Na'kome..clanless.
No one would have missed you, and there would have been no political repercussions for Dark Flame or the Hu'ru Temple. Dead men, they say, tell no tales.
But there is much you do not know...I am not Na'kome, in truth. My father was from Jakalla, from a High Middle Clan.
I will tell you the tale someday.
Suffice it now to say that to honor the pact made, Balesh must go to the Temple of Hu'ru and show the priests how to activate and operate the Orb, revealing it's nature. But Balesh, my son, you shall return safely."
BALESH: That day you are taken to the Temple by Dark Flame escorts.
You are taken to a torch lit chamber where armed warriors and several priests gaze upon you. Two are scribes with empty scrolls and full inkpots.
On a stone pedestal rests the Orb which was taken from Bejordi's coffin.
"Proceed," says a priest.
You lift the Orb, which seems seamless and smooth save for a strange hexagonal pattern burnished upon it...
Suddenly your mind is filled with the spirit's instruction-- as you begin to run your hands over it, the surface begins to change, opening small round slots and sprouting tiny buttons and protrusions.
A whirring humming noise is heard and green light spills out--clicking, then weird chirps and faint whispering, droning voices.
A green light takes shape above the orb which shows strange sphere like shapes traveling along tube like tunnels, with people riding inside!
Numbers and sequences of lights are shown, and all the while the scribes write furiously, one writing, the other drawing.
Balesh feels as though his mind is another time, another place, and realizes the spheres are carriages which travel under the earth in tube systems, making an overland journey of months or years a matter of hours!
He knows that if he ever finds one of these carriages, he will know exactly how to operate it.
Upon Balesh's return to the Inn, a meal is prepared.
The Nuroabites sit and eat and drink as the Inn's paid servants pour their cups.
One servant wears a hood which conceals his face as he bows deeply towards you all.
As he fills the cups, a smile appears in the shadow of the hood.
In a familiar voice, which shocks all of you, he says:
"By the Shadow Gods....was not it a game even the gods would have gambled upon?"
