Hazardous Times: Chapter XI "Fit For A Queen"

[Lady Blue03]

OOC>>Yes, excellent . I think it's about time someone made a new thread though! Cerek. be sure to come say goodbye to Verloren b4 you leave; you are the one that freed her afterall

[ 07-15-2002, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: Lady Blue03 ]

[Galadria]

LILYBLACK (As she puts the scroll down, a lithe man clad all in gray, which extends even to his eyebrows and eyes comes into the room bearing a tray with two glasses of a sparkling wine on it. She takes one as he picks up the other and touches her glass. She frowns.) "Mouse, darling, I must go away for a few days." ( he protests, 'But it seems as if you just got here, Misling.') She replies, as she kisses him on the cheek,"Darling, you know that I have a job to do, and, delightful as this has been, I must be about and doing." (She changes into her leather catsuit, equips herself with some strange devices, then steps into a portal, coming out in Sir Bors' Tarashia office.) "Greeings, Sir Bors. Have you aught for me?"

[Attalus]

SIR BORS (looks up from his desk, smiles in greeting) "Indeed, milady, there is much toing and froing of late. Blandamour sent me a message and I just got it. It seems as if he has vowed to retreive Kinn'zuwannik the Black's vase from that detestable Beresfor, to save a companion's life. Well, I cannot have that, though I cannot tell him so. I want you to steal the vase, "Peace of Mind" it is called for some reason, and bring it here. That way, the dragon can have his gewgaw, the Order will not be compromised, and we shall have peace in the North for some little time." (Tired smile) "I don't want Blandamour to soil his hands, but ours are soiled plenty already, aren't they?"

[Galadria]

LILYBLACK (smiles slightly) "Indeed, my Lord, they are. You cannot kill your enemy without a little blood lingering. Tell me, is the esquire Eliza still with Sir Blandamour? (He frowns and says he doesn't really know) "Indeed? Well, I shall find out, soon enough. Beresfor's castle, did you say? Well, here I go." (In an instant, she is standing just outside the castle, tucking a portal lens away. She quickly covers herself with a ragged cloak to become just another traveler, straggling into the gates right before they close for the night.)

[Galadria]

LILYBLACK (She unobtrusively speaks to several people at the castle, giving out that she is a pilgrim come to gaze upon King Beresfor’s famous vase, “Peace of Mind.” Most look at her blankly, but finally, she meets a furniture maker who tells her that she has no more chance of seeing that vase then he has of marrying Princess Verloren. He knows, for the king hired him to make a special table to rest the vase upon. Questioning him, she finds that he still has some chips of the wood that he made the table of. She unobtrusively grabs one, and heads out of the castle to an abandoned house she had noted earlier. For the next few nights, passerby see strange lights and smell odd odors, while different voices whisper, hiss, or shriek. Finally, she proudly gazes on a new portal stone. After readying herself and burning the house, she utilses the lens. She suddenly appears in Beresfor’s locked, guarded, trapped chamber, deep within the castle. She sees the vase, removes the traps around it, wraps it in the velvet that it rests on, and, as alarms are sounding. She instantly reappears in Sir Bors’ office, bearing the vase.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

As the morning sun rises, Addison gathers his belongings. With nothing further to be said, Addison turns to leave. Then, abruptly, turns back and walks over to Verloren. He takes her hand and gently kisses it.

"Goodbye, Lady Verloren. Tis a pity that we did not have a chance to know one another better. I sincerely hope you will have a chance to repay your father in a manner befitting the deeds he has done. I only regret that I won't be there to see it happen.

May the gods guide your feet on their travels and your sword in battle.

Fare thee well, milady."

He then turns and heads out of the camp, with Ni Deng following close behind. As soon as they are out of site of the camp, he reaches into his tunic and removes the amulet that TAO gave him several weeks ago. She had said he could use it to call for her help when needed, but he imagined she was too far away to respond.

Instead, tried casting a minor Divination spell on the amulet and then concentrated on Lady TAO. To his delight, the amulet seemed to pull in a specific direction. The course appeared to lead back towards the general area of Korup-Shun.

That is to be expected, thought Addison. After all, that is where Raymond was, to the best of his knowledge, so it made sense that TAO would also be there.

Very well, then that is the direction his path would follow also. He looked at Ni Deng, and the old gardener returned his gaze with a look that held far more knowledge than he would ever reveal.

Without a word, the two companions turned towards the rising sun and began there journey back.

[Ar-Cunin]

Sanael Ganahr

"Well I'm confused by your attitude, Addison. You seem as ready to sacrifrice the life of a companion as you are to protect your enemies."

"As you said - we've have managed to effectuate the release Princess Verloren. I don't know how many lives would have been lost trying to escape, but Elizas would surely have been the first. And - might I add - with no guarantee that any of us would survive the encounter and make it back to the castle."

"Besides - Sir Blandamour didn't promise when he would get the vase - only that the dragon would get it at some point in the future. And the future is long"

He chuckels for a moment then continues.

"Not that Sir Blandamour will interprit the agreement in that way - I'm sure. He is - as you pointed out - after all a Paladin."

"But perhaps you consider the Kings valuables more important than life. Valuables which the King chose to keep and thus endangering the life of his own flesh and blood."

"Oh - and that comment about Sir Blandamour and Lady Elizas relationship really is beneath You. I mean - it's not like it was a secret to anyone."

Sanael appears to consider his next words.

"How did the King get possesion of that vase in the first place - the dragon claimed that it belonged to him first. Do You know anything of this Princess Verloren?"

EDIT: D*** I* - Cerek posted while I was writing again - well just pretend that my post came first - like last time [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 07-15-2002, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: Ar-Cunin ]

[Lady Blue03]

OOC>>For obvious reasons, I'm changing Verloren's heigth to 5 foot
IC:Verloren
Verloren, feeling much better after her wash in the lake, smiled sadly at Addison's retreating back before turning to Sanael once more

"Well..." she cocked her head slightly and looked up at him with sparkling eyes, "My father was-and I suppose still is-an adventurer of some sort. He and some close friends would go out on these 3 day escapades every so often, hunting, treasure hunting, what have you. He never really told me what happened that last time, when he came home clutching the vase. I suspect Kinn'zuwanikk may have been hunting, and not realized the vase was gone until he returned. But it remains unseen to me, as the dragon knew that my father was the one who stole it." she ran her fingers absently through her damp hair, "Whatever the case be, I know that the 'dissapearance' of my father's precious vase would likely drive him to insanity," She giggled at this, then sighed and stretched before turning away from the handsome elf to Blandamour

"Pray tell, Sir Blandamour, when are we to rest?"

[ 07-15-2002, 03:36 PM: Message edited by: Lady Blue03 ]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Addison pauses at the edge of the camp as Sanael speaks his feelings. He turns to face him and - when he is done - answers.

"You are correct, Sanael Ganahr. You do not understand me in the least."

He then turns again and continues on his way.

[ 07-15-2002, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Cerek the Barbaric ]

[Attalus]

SIR BLANDAMOUR (to Verloren, smiling) "We shall rest later today, when we have cleard the area around Kinn'zuwannik's den. He might have a few tricks under his scales, and I don't want to be close by. Let us see, you have your own horse, so there is no need to repack the sumpter horses. Let us set out. I know of a good campsite about three hors ride from here." (He mounts Shaitann, and Eliza quickly mounts her own palfrey. They set out immediately and are at the campsite well within the prophesised three hours.