Rashemen Book 2

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Nakia followed Sepp shaking her head and muttering to herself in halfling. (Sorry what she is saying may not be translated here)

 

Sepp walked with Nakia. He felt very amused. He liked the old elf. Maybe someday he'd have time to chat with him.

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Aldahrel Clouddancer looked at Jex. Then he bowed. "That was quite some work, you did there. Keeping yourself and everyone else alive long enough for the group to overcome the Blade Singer. I once knew a warrior who might have been able to match your deed, but he's been dead for ages now. As to your question. I have some answers. As you know, the Blade Singer was a major marilith, feared across the lower planes for her skills. We don't know her true name. She'll be restricted to her home plane for several decades, or maybe even a century or two, but unfortunately for you, you'll probably still be alive when she is able to return. And her anger at you will not have abated any. If you really want piece of mind, sometime you should hunt her down in her lair and kill her for good, though that would probably just make you more eternal blood enemies. Such is the life of a warrior."

"Iuz is an evil god, not really all that powerful. His worshippers are mainly restricted to certain areas of the Flanaes, which is a large continent similar to Faerun, though on the other side of this globe. So it is not surprising that your companions had never heard of him. I suspect that he has at times employed the Blade Singer."

"Braxorthallit is a demon, to be certain, but we have never been able to ascertain exactly what type. He is sometimes called the Alchemist, and other times known as Q. He seems to supply the fiends with all manners of gadgets that it would better they didn't have, such as the jar meant for you that would have stolen your soul to the abyss, even though that would not be your normal destination. He is uncharacteristically careless about the use of his name, which we believe is his true name, because he never leaves the abyss, to our knowledge, and has some time of protection against being summoned out of there."

"I hope that helps you some. Maybe one day you will be able to put this particular demon in your mind to rest."

He cleared his throat. Then seemed to drift into reverie. "It is time for my master to rest," his assistant said.

 

"Thank you, I might let the matter drop until The Bladesinger is freed. I hope these demons have had their fill of me."

Nodding to the old elf. Jex left the rear of the temple and was directed towards the visitors rooms. Catching up to the others, and putting an arm around Del to comfort her he asked "So what have we learned?"

 

"I'll tell you what I've learned, Jex." Delphinae's soft voice suddenly grew in volume as she talked just loud enough for the whole group to hear. "It was all a trick. She brought us here just so she could show off and give us the pipes to try to earn our trust, and then lead us back east into a trap! Well I'm not falling for it. I'm heading west to Nakia's village, and anyone who trusts me more than this...thing," she said, pointing at Ciana, "will come with me. If you go with her, I can't be responsible for what she leads you to. What say you all?"

 

"Gah, I'm confused! I'm not very good at understanding all of this. Who is setting a trap for whom? What is happening in Nakia's village again? Where can we get something to eat?"

 

Ciana turned and looked at Delphinae "Were you in the same room as the rest of us? How in Corellon's name did I get priests more powerful than me to do all that just to impress you? How did I put a geas on myself to first go east and then find and help you? Are you really that afraid of me when I have done nothing to you or anyone in this group?

"Well fine you go whichever way you want I'll catch up but in the morning I'm going east" and with that she picked up her equipment went into a restroom and slammed the door.

 

Nakia looked at Delphinae, then at Ciana then she turned to Sepp and said in halfling "Where you go I will go."

She walked over to Harbourboy, "Let's find the food. Then I'm off to bed."

 

Sepp was very confused and torn. He did want to go visit his kin at Nakia's village, but he had made a vow to help his friends finish their quests first. He thought it would be good to talk to everyone all together, but with everyone slamming doors and storming off that seemed to be a hard thing to do. He left the temple and searched out Delinos and Kelvados. It took awhile, they were well hidden.

"Hello you two." He filled them in on what had happened in the temple. "It seems to me that the ones with the most pressing quest to finish are you two. I think that whatever happened to Kelvados in the tavern is connected with lingering effects of your time with Torturous. It would be best to take care of that as soon as possible, otherwise, who can tell when either one of you won't just drop and bleed to death. Cianna's connected also, and she must go east, so I'm going to go east with her and you, and whoever else will come. Maybe later we'll all get together again. Do either of you have a better idea?"

 

"I'll be going West with Del." Jex said as he entered the room with Sepp and the brothers. "It's dissapointing that she fears Ciana and the East so very much, but it's her choice. I think she'll need my skills."

Going to find Del, Jex wandered the temple a little more, before finding the room that he supposed was Dels. He quietly knocked on the door. "I'll be joining you in the west. If it's any consolation." Turning his back he started walking back towards his room.

 

Hiding their faces under their hoods, making sure no priests were around, Delinos and Kelvados wandered into the room where the others were. "We're going with Ciana. She seems to know more than us about Torturus, and we need to resolve that before it gets; messy."

 

Atten wondered who this Harbourboy character was that Nakia was talking about, but he liked the idea of getting some food. That at least was something he understood.

"Is there anything to eat in the temple, or do we need to go foraging in the forest?"

 

Nakia had found some food and had settled down to eat but was actually only toying with it. She looked around at the others, frowning. She was not a happy halfling.

Speaking so that the others could hear her, "Sepp, you know that I consider it my duty to stay with you but I'm not sure you're right in going with Ciana. Maybe this is something that Ciana, Delinos and Kelvados need to deal with. Please think on it."

She ducked her head and went back to playing with the food.

 

Ciana came out of her room and got herself some food, looking at the rest of the people in the room she said "I shall be leaving with the dawn, if any are coming with me could they be ready please; I feel it is important that we move fast as well, I hope that won't inconvenience"

She waited a few minutes for any replies or comments before moving back to her room and this time gently shut the door.

 

Sepp got up. It was still the middle of the night. He had been trying to vision what would be the best course of action for him, but all he could see was fog. There was no telling what way, or with who, he should go. This temple was nice, but there was a different feel to it. The earth under foot here did not belong to the Earth, another had laid claim to it. He longed to feel the real earth, dirt and grubs, under his feet.

He quietly got his stuff on and left the temple grounds. He climbed a small wooded hill to get a look around the country side. It was quite pretty and peaceful here. He closed his eyes and tried to think.

A mental flash of warning shocked him awake, just in time to roll aside as an enormous axe thunked into the turf where he had been. As he got up, a huge boot thudded into his chest and he went flying into the underbrush.

"Sorry about that, please forgive me!" a gruff yet tender voice called after him. Lying on his back, trying to catch his breath, he heard his polite attacker aggressively moving to finish him off.

 

Atten slept. He had no idea what was going to happen next but he was finding this adventure to far less stressful than the quest for the Heart of the Earth. There seemed to be so much less at stake that he had much less to worry about.

 

“Please run, I can’t control myself,” the voice screams at the Halfling as he moves closer to him; and when close enough, he swing his axe with great strength. He misses his target just by inches and slams his foot into the ground, shaking the earth beneath him. “You need to get away,” he screams again as laud a he could.

Again, he holds his axe on both hands ready to attack again…

 

Maron watched what was going on with continuing horror. She saw the large creature attack beloved Sepp without cause, and saw Sepp's attempts to defend himself going badly. Mentally, she called upon her deity's power to halt the attacker, and felt the power surge through her. As always, she smiled at the release as the power flowed from her. It was like releasing a sneeze. Or orgasm.

She called out the final word of the spell as she sent it flying, and saw the red bonds settle over the creature. She hoped it would work.

 

Sepp got up and stated to run, as fast as he could, which was sure to be much slower than this giant, yet when he turned to glimpse his doom, he saw that it was getting caught up in red bonds. He tripped over a branch and tumbled down a hill.

 

As he was getting ready to strike again, he saw this red looking bond coming at him, he swung his axe at them in hope to brake them, but not such luck. The bonds past right thru his axe and begin to envelop him.

Just before he was cover complete he yell, " I don't mean no harm, I can't control myself, please helppp...", and at that moment the bond finish surrounding him, and him body fall to the ground and dropping his axe far behind him.

 

Atten awoke to strange noises. Grumbling, he tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. He wandered over in the direction of the noises and saw a stranger struggling with something red. Atten’s blurry sleep-filled eyes could not tell what the red material was.

“What weirdness is going on here, then?”