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Old 01-02-2004, 11:33 PM   #1
Bungleau
40th Level Warrior
 

Join Date: October 29, 2001
Location: Western Wilds of Michigan
Posts: 11,752
As Missy Hissy accompanied Stackman’s party down the elevator shaft, her heart grew heavy. She felt no ill will for the lich; he’d paid for his own hell in blood, and it was none of her affair. Her feeling for her father’s killer... there, she was struggling.

The teachings of the zenmaster revolved around the way of life, that all things run full circle, ending where they started. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had found Scanthril, and equally as long that she had ended his miserable life, unsatisfying though it was. She realized she was not angry at the tool, but at the craftswoman who handled it. Every step had brought her tantalizing information, from the paintings in Anephas’ shrine to the legends in the lost city of Collasium.

And if the lich could give her the last piece of information, the last thing to give her the full knowledge of who was behind her father’s death and the hunt for her own life... well, how important was that knowledge to her? Would she make him suffer? Would she show mercy, undeserving though he were?

She didn’t know.

Her old teachings as an assassin would have her bringing the lich to his knees, twisting daggers in his back and in his brain until he told her everything he knew. Her new teachings told her that every action would be repaid, ultimately. In this life or the next, in her life or in her offspring’s, her deeds and actions would come back.

As the second elevator ground to a halt, Missy and the rest of the party stepped off. She wasn’t used to traveling with such a large crowd... it almost felt like being in a pack of animals, and animals rarely outlasted the hunter. Soon the entire crowd approached the lich, who raised his head and rasped, “So you found each other.”

Missy and the rest stood awkwardly for a moment until the valkyrie drew the rest of the party toward the other end of the punishment chamber.

“I have your heart in my hand, lich,” said Missy. “Tell me what you know of the contract.”

The lich raised his rotting head. “And I tell you, and then you leave. And I remain here, unable to be killed for the rest of eternity. I think not. Put my heart in the black fire, and I will tell you all that you wish to know.”

“I- I cannot do that,” responded Missy. “You have my word that I will burn your heart once you tell me. But you must tell me first. Otherwise, you shall die, and I may never gain your knowledge.”

“Then it seems we are at an impasse,” rasped the lich. “I cannot tell you, and you cannot burn it. Fortunately, I have an eternity to wait for you to make your move... and “SHE” will force you to move before then.”

“I see,” mused Missy. “Wait here - augh! Like you’re really going to move...” She strode from the raised dais and beckoned the valkyrie toward her.

Once the valkyrie stepped forward, Missy spoke. “This lich will not give me his information unless I burn his heart. I fear that if I burn it, he will die before giving it to me. He fears that if he gives it to me, I will leave and he will be left here to suffer for eternity.”

“But-“ began the valkyrie.

“Hush, please,” said Missy. “Here’s what I want to do. I commit to you, lich, that once you tell me what I want, I will burn your heart. Lady Valkyrie, I charge you and your companions that should I fail to burn his heart, you all will attack and slay me to the best of your abilities, burn his heart, and then do what you will with my corpse. Will you do this?”

Struck by the fierceness of Missy’s expression, the valkyrie nodded agreement.

Missy turned to the lich. “Will that be enough to satisfy you, that your torture will be over?”

The lich eyed the valkyrie. “Swear it upon your oath,” he said.

The valkyrie looked him straight in the eye sockets. “By the oath I swore to defend the helpless and ease the suffering, may I be struck down should I fail to honor these requests.”

The lich nodded. “That suffices for me.”

The valkyrie retreated toward the rest of the party, wary of the strange goings-on. At least she had her companions, if it became necessary. She did not relish the thought of battling Missy.

The lich turned his empty sockets towards Missy. “She has been coming to me for centuries to write these contracts. I was not always a blood-sucking leech, you know. Before I fell under Cet’s spell, I had a long career as a lawyer, and fashioned and broke many contracts. She knew of that, and after the Cataclysm, she found me, and asked me to assist her in her contracts. By then, I had been immortal long enough to be bored with life and undeath, so I agreed.”

“Who was she?” demanded Missy.

“I’m coming to that,” said G’Ezerred Ra. “Each time, the contract was the same - payment to be made on the death of a merchant and his offspring. Each time, the merchant and offspring were named, although I found that neither one existed when the contract was written. I often wondered how she knew what the names of two generations were going to be... but as long as she brought me the enchanted instruments to ease my torture on this world, I sought not to find that out.

“Your contract was written one hundred and sixty nine years ago, before the last champion was even cold in the ground. It was as if she knew that he would fail, and that she would need another. Interestingly... since you have come of age, she has not been back for another contract... not that I am able to entertain visitors,” cackled the lich.

“So she had you write this contract so long ago... who was she? Or is she?” pleaded Missy. “You want an end, and I want answers.”

“I will tell you what I know,” said the lich. “Whether it be an answer or another question, I know not. I do know that I never met her; she always worked through an intermediary. After the first two contracts, I grew curious and tried to find out more. The intermediary always disappeared after our meetings, so I looked into the contracts themselves.”

“And what did you find?” asked Missy.

“Each contract was formally filed with the assassin’s guild some time after I wrote it. None of the targets had a long or well-known family lineage; in fact, they didn’t seem to exist at all. Each time, the merchant was quickly slain, while the single child left behind was not. At least, not as quickly. Sometimes the child was slain at the same time, while sometimes the child lived onward. Often the child lived in fear of the assassins, which is as bad as being dead. Or so I am told,” cackled the lich, delighting in Missy’s confused expression.

“And the children who didn’t live in fear?” asked Missy. “What of them?”

“Two escaped,” said the lich. “D’Soto, the grand champion, was the first. He died, betrayed by those close to him. The contract was collected, and the poor sod who collected it tried desperately to back out of it, but it was too late. He got his thirty pieces of silver.”

“And the second?” asked Missy.

The lich focused a baleful eye on her. “The second is you. And your chapter has not yet concluded, though it should. You, like the others, are a child of no mother and no father, who has been manipulated throughout your life to be who, and what, and where you are today.

“Think for yourself, child. Who would put you in this situation? Who would gain from you and what you are about to do?”

The lich lowered his head. “And that is all that I can tell you. I have never seen her, never met her. But of all her contracts, you are the only one who has survived this long. You hold something more than the others. But I hold nothing more.”

Missy bowed her head and wept, unsure as to what was to come. Her past seemed to be no more - her father, her mother, the glass pendant, the assassination... if she could trust the lich. But she was here - she had to have come from somewhere. Didn’t she?

Heart heavy, she trudged back toward the black fire, allowing the others to walk her through the ritual of burning the lich’s heart. And as the lich’s form finally dissolved away, Missy felt that a tiny piece of her own heart was turning cold and dark, just like the lich’s.

After a few moments, she bade her goodbyes to Stackman’s party. They were setting off to investigate the stack more thoroughly, and Missy needed time to reflect on her latest lack of news and information. Everything she knew and believed in no longer existed, apparently; she’d thought it strange sometimes that her father rarely mentioned her mother, and never talked about visiting relatives during any of his journeys.

Heading off, she tried to sort out this new information in the light of one thing she could trust, the teachings of the zenmasters. There, she could find some concrete pillars to reground her life.
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Old 01-03-2004, 01:27 AM   #2
Lord
Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice
 

Join Date: June 3, 2003
Location: New York
Age: 39
Posts: 3,302
Loved it! Can't wait for the next one... [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Old 01-03-2004, 09:25 AM   #3
bsftcs
Red Dragon
 

Join Date: January 23, 2003
Location: Denmark
Age: 45
Posts: 1,577
So close to finding the truth, now. I cannot wait to see how it ends.

Do not worry about Missy's inability to detect Stackman. The demi-gods of the Ironworks have a very efficient cloaking ability towards RPG characters.

I just talked with my party. They were VERY curious to find out what happened, and they reproached me heftily for having them read hieroglyphs for so long.

Great chapter, Bungleau. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
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Old 01-04-2004, 05:11 PM   #4
Wyvern
Ironworks Moderator
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Location: Rural Paradise, MI
Posts: 5,701
ARGGGGGG I'm still on the edge of my seat and I want to turn the page and find out what happens next!!!

Put me out of my misery!!! (lol)

Great chapter!!!

Wyv
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Old 01-06-2004, 12:32 AM   #5
macoati
Manshoon
 

Join Date: February 27, 2002
Location: WY
Age: 55
Posts: 184
(only one reply but meant for both)

Here! Here! to Wyv's comment!!!

I feel like I'm waiting for Jordan to finish!!! (and his current offering is a PREQUEL!...if he's not careful he'll die before he finishes such as the original Conan author ((may my brain be fried for forgetting his name))....*grumble*)

Simply put...Masterful!

I think you two should collaborate (not that you are) on more than these/this Missy/Stackman tale(s) [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-06-2004, 12:57 AM: Message edited by: macoati ]
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Old 01-06-2004, 09:24 AM   #6
bsftcs
Red Dragon
 

Join Date: January 23, 2003
Location: Denmark
Age: 45
Posts: 1,577
Thank you for your kind compliment. As for myself I need a gradual withdrawal from all this writing. So who knows... We just might.
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Old 01-07-2004, 12:15 AM   #7
macoati
Manshoon
 

Join Date: February 27, 2002
Location: WY
Age: 55
Posts: 184
Well, depending on how gradual your withdrawl, I expect somewhere around 10 or 20 novels... of which, rest assured, I would purchase hard back first edition copies...so your sales would be a minimum of 1 per novel...just a tiny bit of incentive [img]smile.gif[/img]

(but I expect them to be signed *grin*)
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