What REALLY happened to Imoen (a novel)

[L33T3LF]

Sw33t stuff Gally, you have m4d sk1llz [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Galadria]

LOL, thanks, L33. Today's installment:

Morgul was beginning to tire of this. "What could you have, brat, that such as my Lady could possibly want ?" He ran his eye contemptously over her pitiful clothes. Noemi shot him an irritated look.
"Yes, what, child?" she cut in, more kindly." Lady Galadria is very busy."
A stubborn look came across the urchin's grubby face."It's for her and her alone", she stated firmly.
Noemi hesitated. She knew that Morgul wanted to get home and end their evening out in the most agreeable way; that is, in bed. She would have liked that herself, but on the brink of a chancy and possibly dangerous trip like this, was it wise to ignore any possible aid? Noemi, ever cautious, thought not. So, ignoring Morgul's obvious impatience, she said, portentiously, "The Lady Galadria decides all such things for herself. Come along then, but be aware that if this is some foolishness, she may well turn you into something awful." Morgul could just wait, she thought,with a touch of malice. The anticipation will just make it sweeter. And she gave a look of triumph at the glowering apprentice.
That same Lady Galadria was, when the little party found her, packing supplies: potions, weapons, food, and heavy clothing. On the corner table, carefully wrapped, was the famous bowl. It was to go into the dark woman's own backpack. I don't know why she's wrapped it so heavily, thought Noemi with irritation. To hear Morgul tell it, the thing would probably mend itself if it broke. But she couldn't say such things in front of a stranger, even such a one as this. "Lady Galadria," she stated pompously, "this creature craves an audience."
Galadria looked up in surprise at her sister's formal address. "Em, I'm busy.." she began, but stopped short when she saw the red head's companion. "What's all this?" Sefa dropped her pathetic curtsy again.
Noemi, enjoying herself, continued her portentious tones: "Know, Lady, that this one, a Lady Sofa, craves audience with the great wizard. She claims to have some gift for Your Ladyship."
Galadria, annoyed, and suspecting some prank, focused on the wretched child. She took in the rags, the dirt, and the obvious fear. "Come, child," she said in a kindly tone, as she drew Sefa onto a bench. Morgul made a mental note to clean it before he went to bed. "What do you have for me?" asked the dark mage.
"Tisn't a gift," Sefa finally muttered, "I found it, and they said you might buy it."

[Galadria]

"Found what? and who are they?"
"This,"said Sefa, producing a dirty scroll. "They are my friends. They said you were the only nice mage in Baldur's Gate." Galadria shot a teasing look at Noemi and Morgul, who looked tolerant. She picked up the proffered scroll, wrinkling her nose a little at the dust. Galadria was used, of late, to properly labeled scrolls from the merchant's shelves, but she had often enough found valuable magical screeds in abandoned buildings and haunted caves, so she looked very closely at this one.
It was obviously magical, but in a tongue unknown to her. That could be fixed, she thought, letting her eyes stray across the well-filled bookshelves of her study. Not all those things were books, and she was an old hand at finding out the meaning of obscure papers. Just not bowls, she ended sourly. Aloud, she said,"this does indeed interest me a great deal, child."
"Sefa,"the urchin whispered. Galadria focused on her and smiled. Sefa was entranced. Such a pretty smile, she thought, on such a serious lady.
"Sefa, indeed, though your herald," she indicated Noemi, "failed to pronounce it correctly. Try to do better, next time, my dear Lady Noemi" The redheaded woman smiled tartly, recognizing her sister getting a little back at her.
Gathering her courage, Sefa asked, "Is it worth anything, my Lady, to you, I mean?"
The dark woman opposite her smiled again, recognizing her need. "Yes, indeed. I beleve the going price for unidentified magical scrolls is a gold piece." The waif brightened.
"But," she went on, "I fully realise the efforts it must have taken to get it to me, so I'm giving you ten extra." She reached into a drawer, pulled out the coins , and offered them to the now trembling child.
Sefa was afraid to touch them. It was more money than she had ever seen in her life."Oh, my Lady," she burst out. "All that for a dirty piece of paper?" Morgul privately agreed.
"For a magical piece of paper," Galadria said firmly. Her mind turned, slightly. "Sefa," The child brightened at the sound of her name in her mouth "How did you know it was magical? How did you find it?"
Now you ask the right questions, thought Noemi triumphantly. She stole a look at Morgul, but he was watching the scene intently.
Sefa thought carefully. "It was blowin' along the street, my Lady," she finally said, "'n' I went to catch it, and it shocked me, kinda."
The three magicians exchanged glances. Talent, their eyes said. No one without magical talent would have recognized any thing odd about the paper. This was a rare trait.
As if reading thier minds the dirty little girl asked. "My Lady, how did you become a sorceress?"
Galadria smiled at her, seeing herself again when her foster father told her she might have the talent. "My guardian saw it in me. He taught me. He was a mage of great knowlege."
"Didn't see it in me," Noemi muttered. This was an old grievance of hers.
Galadria gave her a warning glance. "Sefa, where do you live? Who are your parents?"
The girl toed the carpet. "Guess they're dead. Never knew 'em. Just stay with my friends."
Galadria looked at her more intently. "Sefa, she asked softly,"how do you live?" Sefa shot her an incredulous look. The mage's guess was that she didn't really know.
So it was that, after a bath administered by a disgusted Noemi, that Sefa was installed in a small room on the second floor.

[L33T3LF]

Much sw33tnes [img]smile.gif[/img]

BTW Gally, if the mod dose go kaput (as you seem to be indicating that things dont look so good) will you be abandoning it completely or will you try to port it over to NWN?

[Galadria]

Don't think it will go into NWN, L33, but suggestions appreciated. Today's instalment:

VII
Sefa found the next few days intoxicating. She roamed the( to her) huge house, peeking into bedrooms, study, laboratory, kitchen. She made friends with the cook, Lania. She had never been as full, warm, and free of anxiety since she could remember. She thought back to her friends in the street with pity. What if one of them had picked up the old paper instead of her. Would they be here instead of her? She made a mental promise to get some of her newfound gold, now bulking in a belt pouch, to them. Winter was coming! She shivered, remembering the neverending struggle to keep warm with inadequate clothing and poor shelter.
She had no inkling of the trace of magical talent that these people sensed in her. The first hint of their belief in it came from Attalus,who, after having met her, was heard to groan, mock-suffering to Baron Odo, "Another mage female in the house. We are far outnumbered , old man." Odo, for his part saw a slender girl with brown hair, fluffy from its recent washing, and hazel eyes. Rather going to be pretty, he thought lazily, and ruffled her hair, making her flinch at first, until she realised that he meant no harm.
He laughed, his quick perceptions noting the movement. "Good reflexes you've got. You must meet my wife. She'll have plenty of questions for you." He winked at Attalus, who knew well of Cythera's social preoccupations. Sefa was just confused. She had already met the little blonde, who had treated her very kindly indeed.
That evening she crept into Galadria's study. The mage was there, peering intently at, Sefa was pleased to note, her scroll. She coughed softly, and Galadria looked up. She smiled at seeing the young girl, looking much better when clean and dressed in some of Noemi's castoffs. "Well, Sefa, things seem to be looking up for you. Have you made yourself at home?"
"Yes, my Lady, everyone has been very kind. Have you found out what my...I mean your new scroll means?" Sefa said carefully.
Galadria wrinkled her smooth forehead, revealing, in the process, a triangular scar on her temple. Sefa had seen plenty of scars, but somehow this one made her stomach sink. She could not have recognized Smaractus' handiwork.
"It seems to be a blessing, though a very peculiar kind,"said the mage in reply. "It is in an archaic version of a southern tongue, and I cannot imagine what it was doing in the street. Perhaps it was dropped by a traveler or a collecter of scrolls." She looked hard at Sefa, who was feeling disappointed. In her world, a blessing was something conferred by a passing priest instead of a coin, and very little good had they ever done her.
"Sefa, sit down," she went on. "Have you wondered why we have taken you in?"
Sefa had thought about that, putting it off in fear that they should realize that they had made a mistake and put her back out on the streets.
She swallowed. "Yes, my Lady, I have wondered. What do you want with me?"
Galadria smiled her wonderful smile at her. "All of my fellow mages have examined you, secretly." Sefa blushed. What did that involve? The dark woman guessed her incomprehension. "They all agree that you have the talent for magic. How much, we cannot know, yet. But there is one thing on which we all agree: it shouldn't be wasted in a life in the gutter."
"It is our responsibility," Galadria went on, " not only to protect and nurture Magic, whereever it lies. But, also, we must seek to make sure it is not misused, as it too often is. And, we have decided that a magic-user who spends a poor, neglected life on the streets is more likely to turn bitter and become evil, using magic to subjugate and brutalise others. So, my dear Sefa, I," Sefa noticed the change in reference, "have decided that it is my duty to nurture you. Would you like to live here and learn magic?"
"My Lady," Sefa gasped. It was more than she had ever dreamed. "Yes, yes, a thousand times ,yes." She went on her knees, then, burying her face in black silk robes, and sobbing in pure joy.
Galadria stroked her hair for a while, murmuring soothing things. Then, when the girl had finally lifted her tear-soaked face to her, she patted her lightly on the cheek. "Run along, now," she said kindlily. "I've got a thousand things to do." She stood up briskly.
Sefa stood also. "I hate to mention it now, my Lady, when you've been so good, but I came here to ask a question."
"What question, Sefa?" said the mage absently, her mind already into food supplies.
"Sir Attalus, Lady, he said you were going on a long trip. What will I do while you are gone?"
Galadria looked up with a slight frown. "Why, stay here surely. It will be safe, and Lania will look after you while we are gone." She looked back to her desk, the question already forgotten.
"My Lady," Sefa said stubbornly, "I want to go with you."
The dark-haired woman looked even more annoyed, though the hoped-for smile seemed threatening to break through. "Sefa, you are a city child, " she began.
"No, my Lady," Sefa interrupted, scarcely believing her own temerity., " I'm not a child the way you mean. I'm tough, I can use a knife..."
"You mean this?" Galadria gingerly picked up a short, battered blade with a red handle. She dangled it in front of Sefa's face. Sefa had wondered where it had gone. It had disappeared with her clothes, Noemi having no mind to leave an unknown in the house with a dagger, even a small one. Tears started again in Sefa's eyes, but she controlled them. The knife had been her dearest possession, her protector. "I can use it, my Lady. And Lady Noemi told me that you've used a dagger."
Galadria began to feel trapped. "I would feel responsible for you. What if you were hurt or killed?"
Sefa stood as tall as she could. "Lady, if I die in your service, I would be doing something a thousand times better than if I lived to be old on the streets."

[Galadria]

It was Galadria's turn to feel the sting of tears. "Very well, then, on your own head be it. I'll talk to Lady Noemi, and ask her to get you a better blade than this." She indicated the small knife.
"My Lady, can I have it back?" Sefa asked, greatly daring.
Galadria, smiling , tossed it to her, and was pleased to see the deft way the girl caught it and secreted it in her new clothes. "Now run, before I turn you into a lizard." The child paled, then scampered off. After all, Galadria mused before turning her mind to other things, you can never have too many willing hands.
VIII
With everyone busy, there seemed to be no one to look after Sefa in the following days, except that Morgul took the time to assign her several domestic tasks. "If you're to be the junior apprentice, sprout, " he said with some satisfaction, "you may as well do some of the things I had to do." Sefa willingly dusted the laboratory, swept the halls, and ran errands. Indeed, though she did them awkwardly at first, her days on the street not including much regard for cleanliness, she soon developed a passion for them. Especially, she loved to clean Galadria and Attalus' bedroom. One day Lady Noemi popped in while she was carefully straightening the coverlet, and nodded approval. "Ah, Sefa, I see that they've got you doing something useful," the redheaded woman stated. "I've been looking for you. Come into my room."
Sefa obediently tripped after her. She liked Noemi, even alllowing for her sometimes sardonic sense of humor. The redhead's bedroom was at the end of the passage from Galadria's, and they went in.
Noemi immediately started rummaging in a large trunk She seemed to find something, nodding to herself in satisfaction, and turned to an expectant Sefa. "I see you're wearing my old outfit,' she said, smiling in reminisce. She wouldn't fit into it now, though she remained slim. Her chest development wouldn't allow it. "So," she went on, "I've got you something to go with it." She pulled a modestly sized but unmistakeable dagger from the trunk.
Sefa, entranced, stared at the weapon. It was beautiful, with an elaborate design etched into the blade. She picked it up gingerly, examining it. Then, she remembered her new friends' habit of naming their weapons. "Does it have a name?" she asked the redhead, who was busy looking in the trunk for the scabbard.
Finding the sheath finally, Noemi handed it to the wide-eyed girl. She considered. She really didn't know much about the little dagger, having found it in a hidden drawer in an old cabinet. She had stuck it in her knapsack, attracted by it's looks, and then forgotten about it until that morning, when Galadria had asked her to get a suitable weapon for the girl. Thrifty Noemi wouldn't think of buying a new knife when an old one would do, so she remembered this one. But the girl obviously expected something, so she thought a minute, then remembered Mogul's snakeskin wand case she had been admiring that morning. She had a momentary vision of the snake it had come off of, and, on the spur of the moment said firmly, "Strike. That's it's name." She tapped it lightly, and was astonished to feel a tiny shock. The knife glowed suddenly, and the twisting forms of the engraving revealed themselves to be entertwined snakes. Sefa gasped in awe.
Noemi sat down, flabbergasted at what had happened. After a moment's reflection she realised what she had done: she had accidentally guessed the True Name of a magical object. She immediately gathered up dagger and girl, and went to find Galadria. This was too important to be disregarded.
They found the dark mage in the storeroom, and quickly told her what had happened. Galadria looked vexed at yet another interruption, but intrigued, too. "So, Sefa," she remarked, " Your magical lessons begin before I intended them to."
"Please, Lady," Sefa asked, trembling, "is it still to be for me? I think I am afraid of it."
"If you are to be a magic user, Sefa," Galadria replied, "You cannot be afraid of magic as such. But this thing may be too powerful for you at this time. I must consider. She turned to a chastened Noemi. "Come," she said, "we must find Cythera."
Later, the female magicians, with an abashed Sefa in attendance, convened under the great Dome at the top of the house. Noemi repeated what had occured, and when she had concluded, Galadria stood. "We must decide. What is the nature of this thing?"
Cythera nodded in agreement. "Well, " she remarked, "we know it's True Name. That should make it easy." She had another thought, and turned to the redheaded woman. "Em," she asked, "have you thought it might be a sentient weapon?"
Noemi got goosebumps. Such things were rare. "Cyth," she replied, "I carried it around in my knapsack for weeks. It never attempted to communicate with me."
Galadria considered."That could be for any number of reasons," she finally offered,."Did you ever use it?"
Noemi shook her head. Questioner was too useful to replace it with some unknown dagger.
"Then again," Amelia offered, " perhaps it didn't choose to address you. There are such things as evil weapons." She carefully turned the thing over in her hands. "The snake motif would suggest that."
"Well," said Galadria firmly, "we're going to find out. I am not going to give a magical item to a child without knowing it's nature." She set the knife down in the center of the room on the small altar to Tres. The three mages seated themselves on the benches aroud it, with a facinated Sefa looking on. Galadria gestured, and the other two began to chant. The dark woman then cast a spell, causing a glow to spread over the top of the altar.
In a loud voice she cried, "Alut, Zeni, Zeni, Nabushkamel, Toth."
The glow coalesced into a small figure, seemingly running very fast, but making no progress at all. Sefa stared. Then Galadria addressed the creature. "Toth, can you hear me?"
"Yes, mistress,"the figure replied in a faint voice, "but it is very hard."
"This will not take long," said Galadria."What can you tell us of this object? Is it connected with your plane?"
"Nay, mistress," Toth wheezed, " it is wholly of yours." Sefa tried to tell what the older women were thinking by glancing at their faces, but they were stony in concentration.
"Toth," Galadria continued," what does it do?"
"It is a knife, mistress," he wailed, "it kills. It has no love for you, nor hate either. It exists to cleave flesh, and to aid its wielder in that task is its pleasure."
"Toth," She said finally," does it know itself? Does it have a voice?"
The creature cried out as in pain. "It may only speak after it has killed a higher being of your plane, and then only once." Toth writhed. "It hears you now, but is only interested, not angry." Toth screamed again. "It is too much. Release me," he cried.
Galadria raised her arms, "Then go, Toth, you have served me well," she said quietly. The figure disappeared. She turned to Sefa, and smiled, as the other two exchanged glances. "Well, Sefa, dear, it seems you have a dagger. Wield it well, and have a care of your foes."
Sefa took the dagger and stared at it for a while, then hung it in its sheath on her belt. Cythera turned to Galadria. "Gal," she asked, "what did Toth say about your bowl?"
"He wouldn't answer, " the dark woman replied soberly. "I've asked him three times. He just screams and says 'I can't' So that is why we have to go north.".

[A1C_Dark-Void]

Hey this is pretty frosty, mind if I copy and print it for myself, I have a friend who has no internet access he might like this too.

[Galadria]

LOL, not the slightest, A1c. Here is some more:

IX

Before long, all of them were standing on the dock at Baldur's Gate, waiting to board a ship. A mistrustful Sefa regarded it without love. "It's so small,"she exclaimed.
Morgul, who had overheard, said, "Bigger than the one that carried me North, last time, and the weather's better. We should be there in a week's time." The fall weather continued fair. One of the reasons for Galadria's haste was to get the job done before winter arrived.
Sefa was unconsoled. This was the first time that she knew of that she had left Baldur's Gate, and doing so on the water made it doubly scary. She sought out Noemi, who was preparing to lower her gear into the ship's hold. "Have you ever traveled on the water, Lady?" she asked. The redhaired mage laughed without humor. "Sefa, when you travel with the Lady Galadria, you travel by any means possible. I have traveled over the sea many times, sometimes willingly, sometimes unwillingly." A distant look in her green eyes made Sefa unwilling to ask further.
Once they had boarded and cast off, Sefa found the small space allotted to her and arranged her few belongings. Strike she placed at her side, slipping her small red knife in her left boot. An elementary reading book, which Galadria had given her, was beneath her pillow. She went back on deck, adjusting to the lively movements of the little coracle, and was surprised to find herself not seasick, as Noemi and Morgul had teased that she would. Cythera and Odo were whispering and laughing at the bow, Galadria was talking to the captain of the ship, and Attalus was gazing at the city slipping below the horizon. Suddenly a clamor broke out from the crow's nest. Sefa saw the captain's face turn ashen.
"A Mosadorn." He dropped to his knees in front of a astonished Galadria. "Save us, Lady, or we are all doomed."
Sefa rushed with the rest to the bow, where she was horrified to see a giant fish-lizard swimming at them, maw wide open, coming on fast. It's greenish-black skin shone with slime, and a huge, jagged fin protruded from its back. The huge tail thrashed the green sea water to a froth, while its side fins seemed to row across the water in front of it. To her terror, they seemed to end in clawed hands.
The group at the bow were joined by Noemi and Morgul, who at once set about summoning elementals from that Plane of Water. Giant humanoids made entirely of water, they materialized just in time in front of the onrushing monster, hitting it with great gouts of gale-force wind and typhoon level storm waves. Lady Cythera sought to calm the panicky crew with a Courage spell; Attalus and Odo were shooting bolts and arrows at it. Sefa squatted and shivered. What could she do against something so big? She drew Strike from its sheath. Immediately, she felt calmer; she caressed the blade. Then Sefa realised something that lay within her skills. She could help her Lady! She got up and ran aft.
Galadria was standing before the mast, dark face intent, hands weaving, mouth chanting an invocation. In truth, she had not been caught totally unprepared; for she had already in place the preliinaries of a powerful dessicating spell, especially for water creatures. As Sefa reached her side, she cast it. The effects were dramatic.
A giant trough suddenly appeared in the ocean around the beast, which roared and twisted in agony as the water was forced from its body. It fell some feet before crashing into the ocean again, as did Morgul and Noemi's astonished elementals. They were not harmed because, as her sister's and apprentice's creatures, their magic was linked with hers. They resumed their assault on the mortally wounded Mosadorn, which responded only feebly. A bolt from Attalus' crossbow finally reached it's brain, and it died, floating on the surface rigidly, and the elementals returned to their home.

[ 07-11-2002, 09:23 AM: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[Galadria]

Today's Installment.
"Ugliest thing I ever did see, "grunted Odo, as they shot past the thing. The coracle was in a fair way to capsize in the enormous turbulance created by the spell, but the crew, fortunately heartened by Cythera's's spell, carried them through. Odo and Attalus, as proper heroes should, ignored the frantic pitching and yawing to discuss the finer points of the incident. Noemi and Morgul stood in the bow, arms about each other.
Lady Galadria, face peaked with the effort of casting the spell, would probably have slipped to the deck, and maybe even fallen over the side , if not for Sefa. She supported the fainting mage and cried out in alarm. The others heard and rushed to them. "Magnificent, my darling," said Attalus instensely as he swept her into his arms. Cradled there, the dark head raised and managed a smile, which Attalus returned as he carried her below. Sefa tagged along behind.
After Attalus had settled his wife in their bunk and made sure she was sleeping, Sefa approached as he tiptoed away. "Please, Sir Attalus," she managed through tears, "tell me. She'll be all right, won't she?".
Attalus smiled to see her concern. "Well, well," he said avuncularly, "so you've fallen in love with our Galadria, too. Fear not, little one. Lady Gal has been in rougher places. She just sometimes gives out when it's all over." He put his huge arm around her shoulders and tried to guide her back on deck.
"Please, sir," she whispered, "let me watch her as she sleeps. I won't bother her."
Attalus hesitated. After all, he did not know this girl well. They had been betrayed before. But, finally, Attalus, paladin of good that he was, recognized the honest concern in the former street waif. When next he went below to check on them, Galadria was sleeping peacefuly and Sefa was standing guard by her, the knife Strike at the ready.

X

They continued to travel without further incident for a little over a week. Sefa spent the rest of the voyage getting to know her companions better. Morgul, despite the negative first impression she had of him, seemed genuinely devoted to Noemi and Galadria. He continued cool and rather dismisssive of her, but there was no open hostility. He seemed to be bewildered by the recent change in his relationship with Noemi. From being very loving, she had grown rather distant, though there had been no open quarrel. Like many a man before and after him, Morgul despaired of understanding women. Actually, just understanding one would be something he would be willing to settle for. Noemi she saw a lot of, and her liking for her grew. The red haired mage had been assigned to teach her reading, and could be cutting when her work was not up to her potential, at least as Noemi gauged it; but she was also affectionate, rumpling her dark brown locks when she did well. Sefa would like to have asked her about her rift with the dark apprentice, but didn't dare risk her temper.
Cythera liked to have long talks with her in the evenings, while Odo and Attalus caroused and Galadria brooded in her stateroom. Sefa now recognized the look that had passed between her husband and Attalus. Lady Cythera wanted to know about conditions on the street, how the children lived, where they slept, and what could be done to make things better. Once she asked the girl bluntly about child prostitution, and had only gotten an innocent blank stare.
After the blonde woman had gone below , Sefa was heaving a gentle sigh of relief, when she recognized a familiar chuckle from the shadows behind her. Noemi, for it was she, slipped down into the empty seat beside her. "Put you through the wringer, did she?"
she asked humorously. "Sweet Cythera, always worried about the poor."
Surprised, Sefa blurted,"I thought you liked her."
Noemi laughed again, this time more gently. "Like her? I love her. She's the dearest person you'll ever meet, but she's got that bee in her bonnet, and we all cut her a little slack." She gave Sefa a meaning look. "As I advise you to."
Sefa was confused."Me? What difference could my opinion of Lady Cythera make?"
Noemi had clapped her on the shoulder, rather roughly. Sefa was surprised at how strong the little woman was. "What difference?" the redhead had said, "Sweetheart, we're on a trip where danger could come from anywhere, serious danger. Every one of us could be depending for their very life on any other. Let me tell you. Once, we," Sefa understood that she meant their group, "were ambushed by a bunch of goblins, and they had a powerful shaman. They bleared our minds, mine, Attalus', Odo's, and the very Lady Galadria. We didn't know which end was up for a few minutes. When we came around, there was Cythera almost dead." Here she grabbed Sefa's arm so hard that she felt Noemi's nails through the leather. "There was a great circle of them lying dead around her, and Bryno was standing over her, his sword reeking, tears flowing down his face.'She held them all off till I came to.' was all he could say. Odo stayed up the next two days, healing her."

[Lady Blue03]

Galadria, this stuff is awesome! I think i'll start printing it out, if thats ok with you . We miss ya over in Cloudys *hugs*