The minutes pass.
Dabid stirs slightly but doesn't regain consciousness.
Mon'Fargret continues to wrestle with his guilt as both Mey'Luskar and Bina grapple with their respective inner turmoil. (Strangely, Mey'Luskar seems to be handling it with more grace than the disgraced priestess.)
Betham paces about edgily, watching both bead curtains while throwing occasional surreptitious glances at Bina and Gemma.
Nekshi examines the dismembered corpse of the Yoti, apparently interested in the implant that animated her.
Gemma chats with Zeton. He manages to find out that she is a native of Gôtheia (the Hergoth homeworld) who came to Lyranell about a year ago in answer to a job recruitment right out of college...only to have the company that hired her bought out and shut down leaving her with no way to pay her bills or return home. Moving into the squatter community eventually brought her to Gol'br'in...and the vine.
Widjgleeby helps herself to another severed Yoti limb.
Ham, Lirassa, Pru, and Granite Spear just wonder what they are doing there.
After a bit, the Fasion returns, bearing a very nervous look and a package wrapped in woven plant fiber. She toddles over to Mey'Luskar, who is closest to the bead curtain, and holds up the package.
"Here," she says.
"What is it?" asks Mey'Luskar, wrinkling her nose.
Bina looks like her heart has skipped a beat when she says, "Vine!"
Betham snaps to attention.
"You'll need this," says the Fasion, holding the package up more insistently.
Mey'Luskar stoops and accepts the package, glancing around at the others anxiously.
Bina moves away as if afraid of either the package or her own reaction to it.
"Why in Flames do we need that kèl'wòk?" demands Betham.
"To get past the guards," replies Gol'br'in just before he emerges from the curtain. "You'll know. Don't try to fight them. You'll only make it worse. Now..." He holds up his own cargo, a collection of what look like slips of paper. Each has a strange symbol drawn on it. "These need to be charged up." He looks intently at Bina. "Can you, uh...?"
Bina assumes a prayer stance without a word and starts a low chant. Soon her head and upper body are surrounded by a red aura. Using his wand, Gol'br'in starts to draw off some of the power and weave it into the runes.
"What sort of guards?" whispers Mey'Luskar to the Fasion.
"Farbetts," she replies.
Nekshi perks up immediately. Sneering slightly at the Fasion, she declares, "Farbetts wouldn't have much use for the vine! They don't have the correct physiology! We'd fare far better offering them abigatta-domi-fadikema-dallit-tasa!"
Widjgleeby grunts.
"It's not for them," retorts the Fasion flatly.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
Zeton watches intently and wonders who, or what, the Vine might be for. He also watches Gol'br'in and wonders what he plans to do with the runes, but mainly Zeton worries about having to deal with Farbett guards.
"how things been going those two we met before in the tunnels will be guards." Widj mutters to herself, cleaning off the bone carefully before tossing it. Bones give her gas.
Most of the party watches, fascinated, as Gol'br'in works. He moves his wand as if it were a stylus, drawing the red soulfire from Bina's aura and weaving it into the runes like a combination of writing and sewing.
Finally, after a few minutes have passed, Bina swoons. She catches her breath and narrowly keeps herself from falling. Her aura flickers out.
"It'll do, I guess," says Gol'br'in. He separates the rune papers he has completed from the ones he hasn't and starts to hand the finished ones to Bina. Then he thinks better of it and turns toward Mon'Fargret instead.
"You can keep these yourself or hand them out if you like," Gol'br'in says. "At any rate, if you show one of these to someone who is under the influence of the Rune of the Enemy, they'll cancel each other out. Make sure you use them one at a time; don't waste them."
"What happens if you show one to someone who isn't under the Rune?" asks Lirassa warily.
Gol'br'in replies by turning and holding a rune paper up to her. She jumps back reflexively.
Gol'br'in grins. "Nothing at all. And the null rune can still be used." Putting the finished rune papers together again, he turns and offers them to Mon'Fargret.
"Well, it looks like we'll be on our way", Zeton quietly says to Gemma. "I'm not sure if we'll return this way or not, but you may want to be extra careful for the next couple of weeks. It may not be safe here much longer."
Standing, Zeton politely approaches Gol'br'in and addresses him in Her-Galad, "Thank you for all your help, it is greatly appreciated, but I have a question for you. I was half expecting we'd be reacquainted with another traveler here named Kuluf, but that hasn't been the case. Do you know Kuluf?"
Gol'br'in looks at Zeton quizzically.
"Kuluf?" he asks lazily. He gestures negative. "Not one I know." He starts to pull out his wand again. "Do you want me to try divining?"
Mon'Fargret accepts the papers and counts them out so he knows exactly how much use they can get from them.
[He will decide how and if to dole them out once he has a count]
He says to Gol'br'in as he gestures towards Dabid, "Take good care of the Old Root. He is an artist and a friend. If we succeed against the Eye, I want to offer my apologies."
(There are eleven rune papers.)
"Don't worry about your friend," replies Gol'br'in. "For whatever value my promises have, I promise I'll do everything I can for him. Now...as for this Kuluf character..."
He looks around the bar and, with a satisfied "ah", grabs a pastry box. Pulling a felt-tipped marker out of his pocket, he starts drawing some symbols on the box.
Lirassa mutters darkly and is shushed by Mey'Luskar.
Once he has finished drawing the runes, Gol'br'in puts the marker back in his pocket traces over them with his wand while chanting quietly to himself. Then he reaches into a pocket and pulls out a handful of tiny dice, which he tosses on the floor. Looking at them, he hums thoughtfully.
"Fascinating," says Nekshi, scratching a lobe. "Do they tell you where Kuluf is?"
"Flames, no," replies Gol'br'in, "but apparently he's helping you." He starts to scoop up the dice. "He's helping you a lot! Interesting..."
"Can we ask another question?" asks Pru, looking suspicious yet fascinated.
"Possibly," replies Gol'br'in, eying her warily.
"Bina said you told her she'd betray Lady Mey'Luskar."
Gol'br'in raises an eyebrow. "No. I told her she'd betray us all!" He holds up the dice. "These told me so."
"Gavam!" spits Bina, turning away.
"Maybe," retorts Gol'br'in. "I've nothing more to add."
"Just...how accurate...are those things, anyway?" asks Pru, staring at Bina.
"How should I know?" quips Gol'br'in with a smirk. "I mean, the Basic Runes are neutral, so they don't lie. Not usually, anyway. But I'm not a master. Not yet. Mistakes happen. Who knows? Besides, 'betray' can mean a lot of things."
"Like?" demands Pru.
"Like giving up on us and leaving." He looks at Bina, flinches under her glare, and turns away, adjusting his clothes nonchalantly. "The Runes were very clear on that one thing: She has to go with you. She has to do this." He nods toward Mey'Luskar. "Just like her."
Zeton eyes the dice warily, but does not doubt G'lbr'in's divination.
"Thank you for this information. I'm glad to know Kuluf is still with us, even if from a distance. Is there any other advice you can give us before we set off?"
"Any other advice?" echoes Gol'br'in. "None that I can think of...except don't try to fight the Farbett guards. Wait, I said that. Anyway, just give them the pass I gave you and do as they say, and there should be no trouble. Oh, and when you get to the Eye of Tann, don't let your sensitive members see any stray Runes. I think that about does it. Anyway, good luck, and may the Entity smile..."
"One more thing!" snaps Betham. "Before we came up here, someone, or something, attacked me. Something tells me it wasn't you."
"And you want to know who it was?" Gol'br'in purses his lips and glances at the Fasion, who frowns in return. "Oh, why not? Who knows? She might even be of some help to you!"
"She?" repeat Bina and Pru in unison.
"She," replies Gol'br'in with a shallow grin. "A surprise guest who came wandering out of the tunnels." He nods to the Fasion, who nods gravely in return and toddles off. "Careful, though; she's pretty shy, and I think you'll understand why. Only promise me one thing." He looks at Betham. "Don't tell anyone she's here. The poor thing has suffered enough!"
Betham sighs. "As if your vine operations weren't enough..."
Mon'Fargret pockets the sheets and says to Gol'br'in, "We thank you for your help and your care of Dabid."
"If your runes and prophecy help and we actually get through this, I will certainly sing the praises of your crew."
Gol'br'in hesitates. Then he allows himself an anxious glance at Bina and Betham in turn before saying, "That would be ironic!"
Post a Comment