The Great Library of Palanthas

An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Kailith.

A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap is at 65. You change? Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Eyes hurt? Turn Color OFF!! (regular story dates)

Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a large book on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Kailith' scribed in orange ink.


Author:    Kailith        
Date:      Wed Oct 18 18:58:00 2006
Subject  Rituals best left to darkness

Hiddukel has always been a vague one, ever since our meeting
years ago. 
I was young then, and foolish.  It wasn't long before I was
snared by the
Prince of Lies with a web of deception.  Now I work day in and
out to serve
him, and someday repay my foolish my debts.  The river of souls
will be flow
hard and fast, and I will free!  

He sent me to infiltrate the Knight of Takhisis, and do his work
from there,
then arbitrarily decreed I leave them.  I've learned not to
question his
motives it has a way of deepening one's debt.  Now he sends me
back, to
offer my services to those who would kill me on sight.  It seems
the closer
I am to freedom, the harder I am pushed, and the harder I must
work not to
lose my ground.  Such is the life of one of my order.  

I have no illusions about what would happen if I came to them as
myself, so
I will concoct an illusion of another kind.  It was easy to get
the soul I
would need to fuel my spell.  Merchants will buy almost anything
if they
think it's valuable.  Pity they don't check for curses.  With my
components
in place, the moment of truth will soon be at hand.  

Under the red moon's garish light I prepare the remaining
components.  When
all three are hidden by the cloud-cover I will do my dark work. 
The body of
a knight who was thought lost will lend me his features, and two
more souls
will flow to my dark lord.  
 
Hiddukel will never claim my soul.

Author:    Kailith        
Date:      Thu Mar 15
15:00:53 2007
Subject     A letter of introduction

To
the Mercenary Clan, 

Introductions are in order, my name is
Kailith S'dan.  I am a priest of
Hiddukel, yet you have little to
fear from me.  I have no designs for the
Mercenary Clan outside
of seeking work.  

Yet do not count me among the loyal Mercenary
fold.  Change is brewing, and
I will be carried away from
Mercenary with it.  But for now, I would like to
join the clan,
after all, a priest of Hiddukel is nothing without money.  

I
have been informed that information on my background must be
supplied, so
I will endeavor to supply it as concisely as
possible.  

My father was Mohaj S'dan, a merchant alchemist out
of Flotsam.  My mother's
name was Samiyah S'dan, a homemaker and
daughter to a wealthy merchant.  I
fell to the allure of my god,
and eventually slew my parents in cold blood. 
From there I was
urged to infiltrate the ranks of the clergy of Takhisis. 
I
successfully became a squire within the Knights of Takhisis,
before Hiddukel
bade me leave.  It seems that Knighthood is
rotting from within, no longer a
threat to anyone.  So now I turn
to Mercenary work for some personal fund
raising, to further my
goals.  
 
The Aspiring Mercenary,
-Kailith
S'dan

Author:    Kailith        
Date:      Tue
May  1 19:46:29 2007
Subject     Deals With a Greedy
God

Service to Hiddukel lasts longer than a lifetime.  It
is a burden that
wearies the mind until Hiddukel at last choses
to reap your soul and toss
your body to the not-so-tender mercies
of Chemosh.  This god, this
abomination, he promises great
things, but dispenses favors slower than
broke miser.  Pity he
has a license on my soul.  

I tossed a coin in the air with
careful precision.  The two heads of the
coin spun end over end
in mid-air.  One side bears a kind face, the other a
head with a
maniacal grin.  I let myself have the false hope that the
kind
face would land face-up.  Hiddukel was always easier to deal
with that way,
even if the bargains were no better.  The kind
face flopped facedown into a
precisely laid out pool of my own
life-blood.  I took a moment to steel
myself, sharpen my wit, and
calm myself.  It was time to bargain with the
trickster. 


Moments passed by painfully slowly, like molasses in the dead
of winter. 
The platinum and gold face slowly reanimated and came
to life.  The eyes of
the coin turned to me, searching for flaws
to exploit.  

"Ah Kailith, my ever-favored cleric.  How goes the
reformation the
Dragonarmies?"  He spoke with a mocking sneer,
one that sent shivers down my
back.  

"All would be well, if not
for Takhisis' foolish love of that Knighthood," I
reply, spitting
each syllable as if it were a taste of bile.  

Hiddukel smiled
to himself as I spoke these words, knowing that even in our
loss
he stood to gain, "Then you have failed to hold up your end of
the
deal.  Things are not keeping up with the timeline
established in our second
compact.  In accordance with the
failure clause of paragraph 16, your debt
is to be doubled."  

I
slowly let a smile creep to my face, thinking for just a second I
had
gained an advantage over the god of deals.  But a nagging
doubt nagged at my
mind, causing me to worry and sweat as I began
to carefully articulate my
response, "Dark Lord, what you say is
true, but you are either forgetting or
ignoring the addendum I
had bargained into the deal.  I am not liable should
Takhisis and
her followers be unwilling to desert the Knights of Takhisis.

Her servants have reclaimed Saige and even now they are trying
him for his
crimes.  I fulfilled my part of the contract; it
seems you've failed to
uphold your I await payment."  

For a
second, the coin's faade turned livid.  Within a heartbeat's time
it
was calm and unworried.  "I'm sure you think yourself a clever
little
fleshling.  Here, take your payment!"  He roared at me. 


I felt the weight of my debt lift my shoulders, the feeling of
freedom
blowing on my soul like a cool spring wind.  A moment
later that feeling was
cruelly yanked from me as new debt of 100
souls settled upon me.  

I screamed at that hated face, "What
trickery is this?"  

Hiddukel lay there smiling a moment, and
finally broke into an almost
hysterical giggling laugh.  "My dear
boy, have you forgotten our first
compact so soon?  For tricking
me, a new debt of 100 corrupted souls is
placed upon you.  They
are to be delivered within 100 days time, sealed
within this
coin, or YOUR soul is mine.  It seems your time in serving
under
me has not been wasted, if you manage to pull this off you
may finally be
free of my clutches, but only because I allow it
to be so."  

I watched as the puddle of blood drained into the
coin, feeling as if a part
of my soul was tugged towards it by
the current.  As Hiddukel's face faded
into gold, I fought down
the bitter taste of my new debt with the knowledge
I might yet
pull this off.  It's time to journey to Palanthas, where to
the
wealth of the world tempts and corrupts far faster than I
could on my own.  
 
(This story was hard as heck to write, I
spent a week or two just trying to
 think up how I would bargain
my way out of Hiddukel's service. I've got a
 plan now, but there
is still some time until it comes to fruition.)

-Kailith

Author:    Kailith        
Date:     
Tue May 15 01:25:57 2007
Subject     The Bounty of 100
Souls

Blood..  Blood everywhere!  The blood of the
corrupt, I send it like
rivers to Hiddukel, and I care not, for I
will be free!  Blessed freedom, I
hear it like a swift spring
bring just outside window pane, tempting me to
venture out and
taste its sweetness.  But I am inside, held by bonds of
blood
that will soon be released!  

My work has been easy thanks to
Dante's wolf pack.  The wolves attack
outlying areas, devouring,
destroying, and terrorizing the simple folk. 
When the city guard
responds, I move in on my mark, usually a corrupt
merchant or
politician.  There's so many to choose from it's a wonder
the
city has room for anyone else.  By the time anyone finds out
about my deeds,
I'm long gone and outside the city offering up my
bounty to the Trickster. 

It was easy for the ten marks or so,
lots of strange things happen in this
city and the guard takes
time to organize.  But now the Solamnics are on to
me.  They hold
a unit in reserve even during the wolf attacks.  For a while
I
was able to elude them using the sewers and other unpleasant
places, but I
guess I must have killed someone important, because
they sure are trying
hard now.  Yesterday they almost found my
stash of pocketed valuables, but I
noticed the tail and doubled
back at the last minute.  

And now here I am, ankle deep in the
blood of 3 guardsmen.  They won't
overlook this one, I'm going to
have to leave town.  I grab the bloody sack
of goods and make a
break for it, knowing more of them will come down upon
me at any
minute.  I've a slice down my side that's leaking dangerous
amount
of blood and shortening my strides.  It's going to be
close.  Opening up a
window, I dive out, falling through
clotheslines and into a puddle of
something unpleasant.  Whatever
it is, it sends lances of pain up my side
when it hits the wound.
 I stagger to my feet and press on, trying to ignore
the shrill
whistles I hear from the building behind me.  

I round a corner
and spot the wall, thanking whichever god happens to be
watching
over me today.  The clomping of booted feet to my left turns
my
mutter thanks into a curse as I scrabble up my rope towards a
hole in the
dilapidated wall.  Sometimes it's good to question a
kender before
disemboweling him.  Without the help of that
otherwise useless race, this
whole scheme would've ended ages
ago.  As my legs pass into the hole I risk
a glance back and spot
a furious Solamnic shouting oaths that would make a
dwarf cry.  I
quickly duck my head back and shimmy down the other side as
the
arrows slam into the stonework, ready to escape into the
wilderness.  

They sent tracking dogs after me for the first few
days, but the wolves made
short work of them.  Now they know
better than to pursue me in the darkness.
I hastily dig up my
belongings and meet up with the pack.  They've been a
great
asset, but I don't think they can help me much longer.  With a
few
words, I tell them to return to Dante.  I think they
understand, since they
go loping off into the darkness.  A change
of clothes makes me look like a
rich trader as I begin traveling
the road, my quota of souls far from
satisfied.  
 
-Kailith

(I'm not completely happy with how this came out. Ah well, 3
more stories to
 go left in this arc.)

Author:   
Kailith        
Date:      Wed May 16 21:14:21
2007
Subject     The Bounty of 100 Souls, Pt. II

Damn
I'm exhausted.  These past two months have been the most
tiring
thing I've ever had to do.  I've faced death countless
times and lived to
spite him each time.  I've committed at least
one murder a day, sending the
backstabber a river of corrupted
souls.  And despite my exhaustion, despite
the atrocities I've
done, I'm happy.  All that remains is to speak to
Hiddukel and
have him remove the yoke from my neck.  You may call it
a
medallion of faith, but I know better.  

I toss Hiddukel's
coin in a puddle of blood, not my own this time, but my
latest
victim's.  He was a hill dwarf merchant with his fair share of
dirty
secrets.  The coin remains oddly lifeless, as if refusing
to answer the
summons I've placed with it.  

"GYA HA HA!"  A
booming voice cackles from behind me.  

I spin, my deadly spiked
mace already out.  Acid sizzles on the rocks next
to me - the
sudden swing must have flung a few drops out.  I see nothing
as
the laugh winds down to a few wheezing cackles.  

"Down here
boy," says the bloated head of my latest corpse.  

I smile at
the god's sense of humor, but keep my guard up.  To think
you've
ever won in the presence of the dealmaker is a mistake.  I
cross my arms,
waiting for his next move.  

"I see you've
satisfied the terms of your contracted penalty.  But remember
one
thing - no matter what you do with your freedom, it will serve me
in the
end," he says with a conceited smile on his face.  A
moment later the
medallion falls from my neck, dissolving into
the blood.  

I throw back my head and try to let forth the joy I
feel inside, but
something is wrong.  My voice won't work. 
Looking down, I spy a dwarven
saber protruding neatly through my
neck.  As my nerveless legs crumple
beneath me, I see the
headless dwarven body holding the blood-slick blade. 
As
everything goes black, I hear a last few words: "I never said
you'd
live."  

No!  It isn't supposed to end like this!  The
creeping blackness fills me
and I wonder what's going on as a
startlingly beautiful face fills my mind. 
Her glorious liquid
eyes are more gorgeous than all the elves of the world
combined,
and her lips, oh her lips!  I've experienced pleasures of
the
flesh, but her beauty stirred something more primal than
lovemaking within
me.  When she began to speak, her voice was so
sensuous it seemed to make
love to my very consciousness.  It was
a heaven with no release.  

"Hello Kailith S'dan, former cleric
of my dear mischievous friend, Hiddukel.
Your god has cast you to
the mercies of Chemosh, but your life is not at its
end just yet.
 I've learned you've done much in my name recently."  

Pain
lanced through me at her words, the price of a Goddess's
displeasure. 

"Your blasphemies were done without my approval,
but your actions have shown
me an untapped group of followers -
followers who may still be of service to
me."  

If I could smile
I would, the blessed pleasure of her company more
intoxicating
than the finest wine.  Dimly I realize that she may save my
life.
 I remember calling her a bitch in life, but I now know I would
gladly
be her bitch.  

"I'll not waste time with you youngling,
your plans have fallen to ash, but
with my help you can salvage
them.  Would you like that?"  She asks, her
tongue licking over
her lips.  

I cannot help myself, I blurt out, "Yes mistress, it
would be a pleasure!" 

"I'm sure it would dear boy," Takhisis
says with a knowing smile, "I will
grant you the power to do the
things I require of you, and restore your
shattered body.  When
you awake, gather up my Dragonarmies and secure a base
of
operations to build up from.  Take the fight from there to my
enemies:
The Solamnics, the Elves, and any others who oppose my
dominance must be
taken care of.  And if catch you depleting my
strength by attacking MY
Knighthood, you'll be wishing for that
hole in your neck."  

My gut lurches as my senses return and I
find myself lying in a puddle of my
own blood.  Miraculously, I'm
whole again, with a new pendant hanging from
my neck.  Medallions
of faith they call them, but in reality these are slave
collars. 
Yet things could be worse.  This slavery seems far more
pleasant
than the last, and so long as I still draw breath, I may
yet be free.  
 
-Kailith
(I felt dirty writing the last half of
this.)

Author:    Kailith        
Date:      Thu
May 17 03:26:34 2007
Subject     She Made Me a Man

The
gathered masses of the Green Dragonarmy Remnants gathered around
a
small bonfire, eager to listen to the stories of my travels. 
Even Verdan
the Green was there, seemingly sleeping.  The twitch
of his ears from time
to time was all that gave away his
wakefulness.  The Queen must have tipped
him off that something
big was coming.  Verdan's rider, an elderly wizard by
the name of
Hyvern leaned on the dragon's flank, watching me cautiously. 
So
I launched into my pitch, hoping my time as a priest of
Hiddukel would serve
me well.  

"The journey back to camp had
been a long one.  Long, arduous, and annoying
yes, worthy of
retellingno.  After recent events, I consider that sort of
thing
a blessing.  For the past two years I haven't been able to take
ten
steps without being part of some grand conspiracy or
misadventure.  I'd love
this bout of mediocrity to continue, but
I think I know better than to
expect anything of the sort.  A
dwarf with a one legged stool has better
luck than I.  Perhaps if
the all powerful deities of the world tended to
their own affairs
instead of relying the faithful, things would be better. 

Enough
pointless introspection out of me, Krynn wasn't built to satisfy
the
needs of a mere mortal.  What this is about is a god.  One in
particular. 
The temptress and future empress of the world
herself: Takhisis.  She came
to me in my hour of darkest need,
saw my value - my strengths, and she saved
me so that I might
serve her.  She bade me raise you, the remnants of
the
Dragonarmies, up to glory and power again.  She sees the time
when a horde
of soldiers will wash the battlefields in the blood
of her enemies once
again, but she is loath to cast away her
pretty little Knighthood.  

So my brothers, we must establish a
stronghold.  A symbol to display our
power and draw more to us
like flies to honey.  It must be somewhere secure,
deep in Her
Majesty's territory, and yet unoccupied by her other forces.

There are a number of old and abandoned fortresses in the area,
overrun by
goblins and worse.  It should be easy to take one and
subjugate the native
population.  In no time flat they could have
it repaired and in working
order once again.  Still, the Knights
of Takhisis cannot be counted as
friends.  I don't know about
you, but I wouldn't turn my back on my friends
if I could help
it.  Quite the conundrum isn't it?  

The solution revealed
itself while I was hunting for food in my travels. 
Land based
game could be trapped, snared, and bludgeoned, but the
plentiful
birds of the air were immune any such plans.  Our
castle must become like a
bird, floating aloft and impossible to
attack from the ground.  I know, I
know, castles fly about as
well as an ogre hurled boulder.  But Takhisis's
forces pioneered
the floating citadel - a castle held aloft by magic and
faith. 
It is the perfect fortress.  With the few mages and clerics we
have
among us, it would be difficult to hold the castle aloft and
control its
direction.  I propose we anchor it in place until our
forces grow, so that
all of our magical energies can be directed
into holding it aloft, rather
than expending energy in lateral
directions."  

Verdan, who had been content up till this point
to feign disinterest, perked
up at the mention of a flying
citadel, before snorting in derision.  Hyvern
seemed intrigued by
the idea, stroking his beard and slowly nodding in
assent.  The
old man's eyes betrayed his feelings to me: distrust,
resentment,
and fear.  But he knew his men had been taken in by my ideas,
and
that nothing was to be gained by continuing to stagnate in this
ancient
camp.  Still nimble in wit, Hyvern must have realized
this on his own and
carefully considered it before speaking. 


"Kailith, you come to us a trickster who claims to have changed
his ways.  I
sense the Queen's blessings around you, but a large
part of me still wishes
to doubt you.  Alas, the decision is not
up to me.  You've captured the
men's heart with your daring plans
and grandiose promises, much as
Takhisis's snared my own ages
ago.  You may yet lead us, but first you must
become a leader
within the Dragonarmies - A Highlord.  Once I styled myself
as
such, but the time was not ready.  Yet I have learned much in my
long
vigil here, waiting for the moment to be right for
re-emergence.  If you
swear to listen to my advice with an open
mind, then I'll pass the armor of
a Highlord on to you.  The
future of the Dragonarmies may rest on your
shoulders, are you
ready for it Kailith?"  

I was taken aback by the old wizard's
words.  His words revealed his
character - that of a calm and
calculating mind armored with years of
wisdom.  It was then that
I realized all eyes had been on me for moments,
and I quickly
rushed to speak again, "I swear on my life and future grave
to
take your advice to heart Hyvern, and to lead the Green
Dragonarmies as best
as I can.  No longer will be 'remnants', but
an army to be reckoned with.  I
am ready.  Our time is at hand." 


A hush settled over the camp then, followed by a flurry of
activity as the
draconians and humans of the Green Dragonarmy
launched into action, reveling
in the knowledge that for once,
they would taste glory.  Hyvern took me
aside, cautioning me and
discussing the details of the citadel with me.  The
mechanisms to
lift it from the ground would need to be prepared in advance
and
airlifted into place.  Verdan snorted at the idea of having to
perform
manual labor, and slunk off into the darkness.  I found
myself smiling to
myself.  For once, things were going just as
planned.  
 
-K

Author:    Kailith        
Date:
     Sun Jun  3 00:28:01 2007
Subject     In Sickness and in
Health

I sneezed, sending a shower of phlegm over the
carefully worded missive
on my desk.  With a grunt of
frustration, I attempted to wipe the mucus from
the paper, only
to have it smear the ink into an illegible blur.  Times
like
this, I wish I followed another more merciful god.  Though
Takhisis easily
could've granted me the power to heal this minor
mischief of Morgion, I
could not ask her.  She abhors weakness,
especially in her own subjects.  To
plead for help with something
so trivial would be a sure way to earn her
painful displeasure. 
It would be nice to follow a god of good for a change,
to follow
a god like Mishakal or Paladine, to follow a god that cared
for
his own.  

A slight tingling of the medallion that hangs
permanently around my neck was
the only warning that I tread
close to heretical ground.  To continue this
line of thinking
would only damn me further.  As if such a thing was
possible. 


Sighing with reluctance, I tossed aside the ruined note and
laid out a fresh
parchment.  Best this be done with before my
body betrays the work again. 
With a cruel smile I took up the
quill again, red hanging from the sharpened
bone tip as I scribed
the note.  You see, quills and ink had been in short
supply at
Darkwatch Keep.  Everything was in short supply.  Luckily,
the
smaller goblinoids have a number of perfectly sized bones
that can be carved
into the appropriate shape.  And it just so
happens the resulting blood
makes a perfect ink.  Takhisis
provides in her own ways.  

The letter practically wrote itself.
 The jerking angular slant of my
letters softened by the
smoothness of processed blood.  Thankfully, I felt
the sneeze and
hacking cough of my recent illness approaching, and turned
from
my work, lest I have to write it again.  

The draconian
messenger at my side no doubt wished I hadn't turned. 
The
spattering of greenish yellow dots over his armor and snout
made him appear
more goblinoid than draconian.  He clicked his
scales in irritation and took
a step forward.  His eyes darted to
my weapon, and saw my hand already upon
it.  The draconian
stepped back with a nervous gulp.  The cruel spikes of my
mace
were lined with acid, a gift from my last master.  A god crueler
than
the wicked dwarf-crafted spikes.  The first time one of my
own challenged me
I beat him into merciful unconsciousness then
woke him with dripping acid in
his veins.  I'm still not sure if
the memory of those screams haunts or
pleases me.  I believe it
still haunts most those under my command.  

The dried parchment
crackled like a dry autumn leaf as I folded and sealed
it.  The
seal of my station had been saved through the ages.  It waited
for
a moment like this.  To be in the hands of a Highlord passing
out decrees. 
I smiled as I turned the polished brass stamp over
in my hands, its ancient
surface seeming to vibrate in tune with
my own grandiose ambitions.  A
wretched cough jolted me from my
thoughts.  I wondered, not for the first
time if this sickness
had made me daft enough to hallucinate.  

Damned goblin filth,
if the castle were clean I never would've gotten sick
in the
first place.  It had taken almost an entire night just to get
this
one room clean enough to use.  And now it had made me sick! 
Chemosh take
their whole filthy breed!  Perhaps when I'm done
abusing their labor I might
send them to him myself.  

The
messenger, Iclaw?  Iklat?  Ikran.  That was his name.  He seemed
to be
waiting on something.  Oh yes, the message.  I handed it
off to him, looking
him over to be sure he had no distinguishing
marks.  

"They will not identify me sir, the message will reach
Lord Saige exactly as
you asked," he said in his rasping draconic
accent.  

I had chosen Ikran for this duty because he is the
most determined draconian
I had ever met.  A bit hot headed sure,
but once he set his mind to
something he set to it with more
determination than a kender confronted with
a lock.  He would get
the message to Saige.  I gave him a slight nod and
turned from
him, letting him know that he had been dismissed.  

As the door
opened I murmured, "Hiddukel watch your back."  I don't know
why
I said such a thing.  It was as much a blessing as it was a
curse.  

Ikran must have heard.  He spoke confidently, "Hiddukel
has never met a
Kapak sir."  The door slammed shut behind him. 


The draconian's boastful confidence tugged at the corners of my
mouth, not
hard enough to make me smile, but enough to let me
hope.  I had kept the
message simple.  We needed his help if we
were going to pull this off.  

"Saige, 

Your presence is
requested at the black fort.  We need your expertise on
flight. 
I cannot say more in case the enemies of Takhisis intercept this.

You know who I mean.  

-K"

Author:    Kailith     
  
Date:      Thu Jun  7 03:19:12 2007
Subject     Till
Death Do Us Part

Crack!  Crack!  The staccato collisions
of the practice weapons echoed
through the courtyard.  I circled
my opponent warily, eyeing him for signs
of weakness.  Krit'naa,
a bozak adept to her Dark Majesty was my sparring
partner for the
evening.  Unusually powerfully built for one of his
species,
Krit'naa chose to forgo the traditional single mace and
shield in favor of
one long-handled mace with a punishingly large
head.  His wooden substitute
looked laughable, but the shockwaves
that shivered down my arms with each
hammer-like blow stripped me
of any good humors.  

My own equipment seemed small and woefully
inadequate by comparison: A
single standard mace and small hand
crossbow armed with a blunted dart.  I
may only have had only one
shot, but it was my ace in the hole.  A blur of
vision cut short
my quick inventory and forced me to react.  Krit'naa's
vicious
backswing had caught me off guard.  The whole fight he had swung
his
heavy weapon with sluggish powerful blows.  The last blow had
been light, a
preparation for the swing that now disarmed me. 


I tried to rally, to fire the crossbow with my free hand, but
he was fast,
too fast for me to dodge or pull the trigger.  My
shoulder was replaced with
white-hot splintering agony as
Krit'naa landed the hit.  The force of it
dropped me hard to me
knees, and left me swaying on the ground.  Pain was
nothing new
to me, but I was angry to have fallen for such an obvious ploy.

I considered myself a master of such base trickery, but the
cruelties of
this beast reminded me that there is always much to
learn.  

"Double his rations for the next two weeks," I said
through pain clenched
teeth.  

The gathering crowd seemed
confused by this, many of the goblins had drawn
their crude rusty
weapons, hoping for a chance to avenge the highlord. 
The
half-splintered wood of my weapon's pommel tore into my hand
as I struggled
to stand up.  New agonies sprouted through the
injured shoulder like
tangleroot through forest, but I willed
myself to ignore it.  A simple
gesture scattered the goblins and
dismissed the draconians.  Wounded as I
was, I must have looked a
fearsome sight.  The intimidating armor of a
dragon Highlord was
streaked by blood along my right flank.  To their eyes,
the
Highlord from risen from a blow that would have felled a mortal
man,
dripping blood that could have belonged to any other for the
pain he showed.


"You really are a fool," Krit'naa said through
a toothy smile that seemed
more at ease than it should have been.
 

I replied with a combination of venom and good natured
teasing, "You're the
fool draconian.  You should've killed me and
taken the keep for yourself." 


"I could have, and I would have
died on the end of a goblin spear for it,"
he spat the word
goblin as if it were the vilest of venoms and
continued,
"Besides, breaking something of yours every few days
is the best
entertainment I can get around here."  

"So it is,
so it is," I said as I threw my good arm over his
muscular
shoulder and allowed myself to be helped back to the
castle.  I had a
precious few moments to reflect during the
excruciating trip to the
infirmary.  Things were going well, at
least in part.  The goblins had been
pliable and easier to manage
than I had anticipated.  Best of all, coming
outside to spar had
helped clear up my recent infirmaries.  The constant
battling
served a dual purpose.  It earned the respect of the bulk of
my
army while sharpening the reflexes I would need to keep me
alive.  Now if
only Saige would show up.  His continued absence
was making things more
difficult than necessary.  He has a weeks
time to make his intentions known,
then we blunder ahead on our
own.  

Author:    Kailith        
Date:      Thu
Jun 14 22:00:42 2007
Subject     Women Always Have a Hidden
Agenda...

Blasted old fools and their time-fogged
memories.  I swear, two
generations pass and anything of use
disappears from their collective minds.
The past few days I've
questioned them, and the specifics of these dark
crystals have
managed to elude them like mad kender in the streets
of
Palanthas.  I should have known better than to waste my time
on this
fruitless endeavor, but I foolishly hoped against hope
that I could come to
the answer before Saige.  

I dismissed the
youngest mage in the regiment, a human who looked not nearly
as
old as he should have been.  Loknir the elementalist he called
himself,
but it was more like Loknir the absentminded.  Perhaps
time chose to ravage
his defenseless mind rather than his body. 
He murmured and saluted crisply
on his way out.  At least he knew
order, unlike SOME who chose to associate
with our cause.  I
avoided the Wolfbound out of habit, for they had a
tendency to
cause headaches more often than be of service.  Perhaps
Arikaih
could spend some time with the old mages.  Dealing with
Loknir would either
teach her patience or drive her into madness.
 

The sounds of creaking iron hinges and the sudden clack of a
latch closing
faded into such a deep silence that I found myself
feeling suddenly alone. 
The distant echoes of pounding workmen
and clanging swords brought little
comfort to this dark and
solitary chamber.  The only thing left to bring me
comfort was my
medallion of faith, pulsing slowly with a quiet angry heat
that
radiated Takhisis's displeasure.  Healing Saige had been a
mistake in
her eyes, she wanted him to suffer.  I was less
content to let old dogs lie.
If he was going to be of use to us,
he had to be healthy.  

I sighed, bracing myself for the full
fury of Her Dark Majesty as I opened
my heart and soul to her
power.  Torrents of agony washed my mind clean of
any thoughts I
might have had as she made her anger known.  The pain felt
like
it went on for years, but as it faded I found myself on my hands
and
knees, the candles of my chambers no farther down than when
the ordeal
began.  The sultry voice that had seduced kingdoms and
broken chaste monks
finally returned to my mind.  

"I trust you
won't disobey me again pet?"  She purred to me through
the
medallion.  

"I may be yours body and soul, but if I must
disagree with you to serve your
interests better, I will gladly
suffer your agonies," I replied with as much
bravado as I could
muster.  

She cooed back to me, "Take that liberty one time to
many and you'll be back
in the ditch where I found you."  

I
couldn't see her, but I could FEEL her smiling like a cat who had
gotten
the mouse, "I already know your question, and no, I won't
be answering it. 
I'd rather see you and the half-blind cripple
puzzle it out on your own."  

"I had figured as much.  Do I have
your leave then 'majesty'?"  I inquired,
ready to be done with
this sour business.  

"No," she dropped the word down like one
of Reorx's hammerstrokes, swift and
hard, "Saige has someone in
his company, a barely controlled berserker.  He
would serve me
better here than with the Knights of Takhisis.  The man is a
risk
to his fellow knights, but in the Dragonarmies, he could be an
asset. 
After all, we can't be bothered by a few accidental
goblin deaths on the
battlefield."  

"So be it my Queen," there
was no sarcasm in my tone; she was a sultry and
powerful goddess
- one who demanded absolute obediance.  Her dismissal was
beyond
verbal understanding, but clear nonetheless.  I broke the
connection
of my soul and made ready to do her bidding.  All
would fall into place in
due time.  

The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD

Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.


Authors: All|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

Astinus sighs as he recants 'We saved 868 books from Ansalon from before the great Cataclysm through today.'
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