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Solo Missions.

Posted by DMFor group 0
DM
GM, 991 posts
Wed 2 Oct 2013
at 18:46
  • msg #1

Solo Missions

Greengrass, 1360 DR - Corym

Three hours past high moon, Corym stood invisibly at the base of the Wizard's Tower.  Ridiculous Cyricists!  He'd had to rush his surveillance in order to fit this bit of knavery in--close your eyes. Breathe. No stray thoughts.  Just the mission.

Just the mission.

Behind these sheer stone walls resided a seldom seen human wizard.  How Traeh "the Firemane" Orbalar had come by the three cha'kiira he could not know.  Nor did it matter.  Kiira of any kind were the most highly desired targets of his order.  They were the artifacts that most demanded to be wielded by elves, and which humans had the least justification to claim.  To the humans they were shiny toys, or maybe weapons.  To Corym they were the history, identity, memory, and legacy of his people.  There was nothing he would not do to reclaim them.

He was prepared.  Scrolls were strapped to his chest in easy reach, secured by his spider--a special harness used by high-rise burglars--picks, tar paper.  He'd even optimized his spells.  Inivisibilty lasted 24 hours whether you were asleep or awake.  He'd cast it on himself before going to sleep in his room at the Roustinghorns, then replenished his spells when we woke.  A simple trick.  A wonderful way to use two second circle spells when normally only able of preparing one.

The wall was no obstacle to his practiced hands, but adrenaline made him fumble with his picks at the 3rd floor window.  It was just as well--the wizard locked window required a scroll to bypass anyways.  A wedge left in the window prevented it from closing fast even once the spell resumed.  Always have a way out.

The storage room he found himself in was mundane fare.  He called upon the innate talent that the Knaves had wakened in him--the ability to see magic without calling on magic to do so.  The auras of the magic in the store room revealed themselves to him.  No Kiira, cha' or otherwise.

Other Knaves were completely rapine when it came to reclaiming the treasures of their people.  They lived opulent lives.  To Corym they were little better than their targets.  Corym knew that for the elves to survive that they must have peace and abide with mankind.  Revenge thievery wouldn't pave that road. Corym ignored the other magic in the room and moved on towards his target.

Corym slipped from room to room, absolutely on edge, but displaying no such feelings.  The motion lights shocked him the first few times until he determined what they were.  It was odd that they could not detect him when he walked invisibly, but reacted whenever he interacted with the surroundings.

Magic items absolutely littered each room, and the library bespoke a great and learned man.  Corym neither took nor touched any of it--that's not the mission.  But his adrenaline was rising.  The letters never told you how powerful the wizard was.  Sometimes they were glorified apprentices.  Not this one.  Custom spells, high-end historical research, a storage room full of magic?

That's when it dawned on him.  He was preparing himself to kill this man he'd never met. A man who seemingly had never harmed anyone in the community around him.  Not that he wanted to--surely not.  But he was preparing to, should it come to that.  Similarly, he was preparing to die--for his people.

Grand words.

In reality, he was preparing to kill him because he was a human who'd gotten his hands on elven artifacts.  Strange that when you got right down to it, he was just as bigoted as Nym.  A sense of propriety was what really separated them.

--------------------------

A spiral staircase, rooms, treasures--some of which after appraising nearly made his jaw drop--, traps, art.  Corym was really starting to worry.  No sign of the kiira, no keys, and most worryingly, no wizard.  He couldn't keep his magesight running all night.  What if one had lay behind that door that he couldn't unlock?  What if there were more than one such doors?  And he with only one knock spell left.  This might take days once he was out of spells, and he'd have to kill the wizard for sure then.

--------------------------

He stood, staring at the old wizard snoring in his bed.  His fingers clutched the hilt of his short sword.  He could kill him now.  Cleanly.  He could search the rest of the tower at his leisure.  All the treasures could be his.  ALL.

Elven steel across the throat of a sleeping human-animal.

A part of him wanted to.  It would be safer.  It would guarantee success.  It would guarantee wealth.  End the beast now. Claim it all.

The mission.

The cha'kiira gleamed at him from a night stand strewn with paper.  Beside it a ring of keys.  And magical rings.  And magical potions. Wealth beyond measure.

Just the mission.

He grabbed the keys, the cha'kiira, and padded as quickly as he could out of the room.

---------------

His magesight was beginning to fail, but his skill at locks and traps was not.  Aided by the keys on the key ring, Corym plowed through the remaining floor--the laboratory.  His knavish skills helped him slip through magical alarms and past a bound Air Elemental--GODS this one was powerful!  If the rest of the tower was rich in magic, the laboratory was OPULENT.

Just the mission.

He snatched up the cha'kiira from the lab table and tore out of the room weaving magic as he left.  He sent the keys back to the wizard by means of an unseen serant and methodically replaced everything as it had been.  Methodically, but quickly.  It could all be spoiled if the wizard woke.

Should have killed him.

No.  Just the mission.

On his way back to the store room, Corym decided to pay himself for his work.  He popped into a study and removed five magic items.  A figurine of a rabbit, a wand, some sort of band (arm, head, ankle, etc.), a small bag of dust, and a rod.  He left a magic sword in the room.  People love magic swords.  Leaving it behind and taking a rabbit?  That'll throw him off.

Back into the storage room, back out the window, and down the wall.

-------------------------

Walking the streets of Hill's Edge toward the northern gate, Corym appreciated his good fortune.  In a very real sense, he felt justified.  The wizard would continue to live and contribute to magical research.  He didn't feel like he could be easily tracked by the odd clues he had left behind.  The knowledge of the elves had been restored to them through a magical retrieval bag.

There could have been blood and wealth.  But he would have been nastier and meaner for it.  Tonight he remained Corym Ildroun, preserved by the Seldarine.

No, not the Seldarine.  The Knaves' patron was Erevan.  He owed the god tribute tonight.  The Leaving was an old custom among the faithful of Erevan Ilesere.  Few priests practiced it any longer, and fewer Knaves.  Tonight though, Corym felt very grateful, for being himself and gave a Leaving with gratitude.  As he reached into his bag and grabbed at his looted treasure.  The bag of dust and the rabbit figurine, he tossed over his shoulder into the middle of the street near the gate.

He ascended the gate, knelt, and prayed to the stars for a long while.
DM
GM, 1230 posts
Wed 16 Apr 2014
at 18:34
  • msg #2

Re: Solo Missions

Yurkal’s Mining Expedition

The following Skype transcript covers events between Mirtul 12 and Mirtul 29. It starts just after the group returned successfully from Hardbuckler, and finishes with Yurkal, Taeghen, and Obar returning to Hill's Edge after siting an iron mine in the plains.

DM: Are you going to leave Jindir with Porsevere for studding?

Yurkal: If she lends me a medium or light warhorse for the prospecting, then yes.

DM: She'll loan you a light warhorse, but gives you several blood-curdling threats of what she'll do to you if you don't bring it back in pristine condition. The woman takes horses *seriously*.

Yurkal: Well,  Yurkal makes it clear as well that he expects no harm to Jindir.....

DM: She just looks at you. "He'll be having a grand old time for a stallion."

Yurkal: ....

DM: Okay, in order:

DM: Ildis is heading back across the river and to the northwest. You're staying on this side of the river and heading northeast. So your paths don't cross.

Yurkal: Alright, then Yurkal wishes a good and safe journey to him before he departs.

DM: Finius II [talking about Sakr]: "He's…" he searches for a proper word. "Slimy."

Yurkal: "Aahh, yes, if you want to put it like this. You should join an evening feast in one of the noble families in Calimshan. You would love it." Yurkal replies with a smile.

DM: Finius shrugs. "He's your partner. We're ready to move out when you have a site." He doesn't ask if you have one already. "I even found some gnomish smelters who are willing to smelt our ore in exchange for the slag."

(This is a standard practice: they'll resmelt it later and get more iron, but you'll get most of it)

Yurkal: "This sounds good. I willbe leaving tomorrow with the soldiers and five or six of the miners. We take enough material with us to establish a small camp once we found a site. Then we send message that you shall move and find us."

DM: "You're taking them all prospecting with you?"

Yurkal: "Well, i will take the ten mercenaries suited for heavy fighting with me, as well as a few miners. After our recent experiences out in the wild, everything else wouldbe foolhearted."

DM: "It's not exactly subtle, but very well." Finius shrugs. "They'll be ready."

Yurkal: (ooc: even Yurkal considers it too risky to move out with two or three mercs alone - the thunderbeasts and margoyles told him a lesson...)

DM: True, but you're sticking closer to home this time. But either way is fine. They've got food and they're your mercs.


DM: Ameena gives you a quick update on the hirelings, who all seem competent and no more drunken than you would expect for a frontier mining town

Yurkal: "Have them ready for departure in the morning, with enough provisions and Food for three tendays." Yurkal replies. "And here," he tosses the 800 Gold pieces over to Finius "use this and gather as many usable People and eventual soldiers in my Absence as possible. o mercenaries, People who Need a new start, preferably those having been mistreated by Zhent activities."

Finius blinks at you. "What kinds of people? For what? Doing what? Staying where?"

Yurkal: "Make contact to People having lost businesses, lost their homes, have lost dear Family members to zehnt activities. Not hire them outright. Offer Support to them. And let them know that we will Need honest and true hearted men and women for the mining camp we will establish around the mine. Also check for Young men like you, looking for a career as soldier under my guidance. I will see to get approval for this by your Family once I return. You know this town and many of its People. Also ask your Father and uncles. They will know such People as well." He steps closer towards Finius "we have a Mission, my Young friend. And this Mission will not end before the last Zhent has either been hanged for his crimes or chased out of town."

Yurkal: (ooc: Yurkal knows perfectly well that this will probably be his lifetime objective....)

DM: "The Zhents bring in a lot of trade, and they're careful to avoid bloodshed in the streets. They aren't liked, but they are respected, and more people have had their lives enhanced than broken by them." Finius smiles slightly. "And many of the misfortunes that do occur in a city like this could just as easily be Beshaba laughing as something organized."

Yurkal: "I Know, but I do think that you understand well what I mean. I know practises like this all too well from my home. Evil does not always Show itself openly and is difficult to spot for the untrained. But let me tell you a sentence from one of my wisest teachers, a Grand Knight of Tyr: ‘The biggest weapon of evil men, is the inactivity of the good men and the results of it.’ Consult your uncles and father. They know how People like the Zhents work - and you know as well."

DM: Okay, speaking as DM here, I need some guidance because I'm lost on this. Just what are you trying to do?

Yurkal: Yurkal tries to gather all kinds of usable People to "invite" into his mining camp.  like Ildis for example. He is one Person Yurkal would like to work with or hire. his Job prevents him from doing so, but otherwise ildis would for sure be loyal to someone moving against zhents if treated fair. Finius shall ask his uncles for suitable other People like this, which might Need a new home  like families having lost the father, Young Boys / men lost their parents due to Monster raids.....
Yurkal plans to be a protector of the poor and weak in his site for the mine, once it has been established. And he also wants to have some soldiers trained and swon to him, not only mercs.

In short: if the roustinghorns agree, he is preparing to found a fief around his mining site. I know the Problems there, but Yurkal is very ambitous and quite positive on things like this.

DM: Okay, that makes a bit more sense. You realize that if you don't manage to find a motherlode, you're going to run out of mine eventually

Yurkal: Pah, Yurkal will find the mother of all loads ;) LOL

Seriously, Yurkal knows this as skilled miner. But this is also the reason why he takes the Maximum time he can to find the best possible lode. And once this lode is being worked, he will begin securing other lodes to maintain stable flow of ore.


DM: Which brings us to the prospecting part of the trip. You do realize that if you take three weeks (21 days), you're going to have about another 20 days of actual mining before you're bankrupt, right?

Yurkal: Well, if I Count in the additional 800 Gold gained from selling the staff, we have a bit more, right?

DM: Assuming you don't just give it to Finius for your other project? It gets you 17 days.

Yurkal: I gave it to Finius to be able to Support People, not to spend 800 Gold on throwing out to beggars and orphants ;) Finius shall see that he keeps enough Gold to sustain us another 45 days after prospecting. the rest he can spend as aid on the Project.

DM: Wait, what? No, there's not enough gold there.

Yurkal: ?

DM: You're spending 1,401 gold/month on food and wages. You've already had your people on hire for 10 days

You're down to 43 days of funding right now, and you don't have a mine site. That's before adding the 800 gp. And remember you promised Sakr that neither of you would invest more money in the mine without written consent of the other If you're planning on taking 21 days for a prospecting trip, you'll have 22 days of funding left.

And it's going to take some number of days just to reach the vein before you can start pulling ore out

Yurkal: That is the Point i just wanted to Highlight. if sakr agrees.....

DM: He'll let you put more money in, but not change the percent ownership

Yurkal: Not on the mine, but i have the General rule on the site and thr rights of Taxation for trade should it come up. ;) (OOC: sheesh I am way more calishite than i thought ) ownership is equal on the mine itself.

DM: not following

Yurkal: you or sakr?

DM: me

Yurkal: well, Yurkal invests more, so if any trade other than the mining Comes up,
Yurkal is the benefitting from it, not sakr. Also Sakr has no right or anything outside the direct mining Business.

DM: That was understood from the start. Not that there's anything coming down from the north, except occasionally hordes of goblins

Yurkal: see, thats Yurkals Business anyway not sakrs ;)

Yurkal is making the Point in the direction that if a fief really develops around the mine, it is HIS fief, and not his and sakrs. For this he is willing to spend more Gold. Also he has a Long term Goal besides just making Money.

DM: Sure, okay. Sakr's focus is the mine and what's needed to support it. So if you want to put more money in, that's fine with him.

Yurkal: And Yurkal’s seeing the bigger Picture. ideally viewing him to raise an army of loyal followers to wipe out the zhents in hill's edge.

DM: Okay, so you put the 800 gold into the mining fund. You now have 60 days of funding remaining. And the fief-dom thing is more or less on hold (from Finius's perspective).

Yurkal: OK, i had not checked the numbers, my bad. But he shall still gather suitable Information.

DM: Which he?

Yurkal: Finius ;) mainly to make him stay in hill's edge and not have him out in the wild to follow the promise to his father.

DM: Uh, no. Without any resources, Finius refuses to stay behind. He says he didn't become your squire to twiddle his thumbs

Yurkal: OOC: darn, stubborn lil guy ;) )

DM: Yes. He also says that if you're taking the rest of the fighters, you should take him, who can fight just as well as they can.

Yurkal: Yurkal Looks directly into Finius eyes. "Alright my Young friend. be it as you said." he says. "Ready the men and Equipment for departure tomorrow morning. We will set a base camp out in the plains, from which we take the prospecting. You will be in Charge of the camp in my Absence, with Ameena as your right Hand."

Finius nods. "We'll be there."

DM: Okay, prospecting trip. So we'll end up saying that your first spot is about forty miles northeast of Hill's Edge, but it takes you about three days of riding to find a spot you think is worth spending the time on

Yurkal: Okay. Still Close to the river?

DM: Relatively. Maybe two and a half miles inland to the east.

Yurkal: Okay

DM: Go ahead and roll your mining check for the prospecting

Yurkal: It takes him a while, but on check three he scored a 1 - pretty much the best possible. the other two will have failed since he has skill 10

DM: So you don't think there's anything at the first site, pack up and move to another site a few miles further north, spend another seven days prospecting, and can't find anything there either

Finally you move another few miles away, your followers starting to grumble, and finally manage to find a site you're sure has iron under it. During all of this, you don't attract that much attention. There are other prospectors wandering north or south, and several caravans coming down from the north

You had to move further inland to find your spot; you're three miles from the river and maybe forty three from Hill's Edge

Yurkal: Once the site is found, Yurkal immediately orders all necessary steps to be undertaken. The site first and foremost Needs to be secured from predators and raids. at the same time a well has to be dug. Taeghen for sure wouldbe of aid here as well.

DM: Right. And sending back for the rest of the miners

Yurkal: err, i thought we had them with us?

DM: You said just take 5 or 6, and half the guards. And that's not even getting into the support staff. Cooks, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc. You left most of the group back in Hill's Edge

Yurkal: misexpressed eventually: when he said to Finius to ready all the men and Equipment i meant ALL the men and Equipment. if finius is with us, we would want to be as big a Group as possible. but as said, expressed weak.

DM: Okay. You get a later start than you planned, because Finius understood just the group you originally meant. So it takes several hours to track the rest of the people down, buy supplies, etc. You leave around noon. And learn not to assume

DM: I'm going to say it takes 1d6 days to get the mine head started and dug down to the ore

You're in luck: 2 days

Yurkal: nice

DM: Note that there are no trees anywhere around. You're not going to be able to build in wood without importing it. Or use it for mine supports without the same. You have enough to get the mine started, but not very much more.

Yurkal: Once the first ore is coming out, Yurkal will have the mining overseer assist him to ratify the Quality of the ore.

DM: The two of you hunker down over fires of beech wood and strips of treated paper, and fairly soon have a decent idea of the ore's quality: decent. Not bad, not great, more or less middle of the road ore

Yurkal: Good. but worth mining ?

DM: Yes

Yurkal: So on the dwarven table, like 4, 5 6 ??

DM: Something like that, yeah

Sakr, meanwhile, has been methodically setting up the mining camp. Siting tents, digging wells, digging latrines well away from the wells, establishing the commisary, etc. He seems to have things well in hand

The gnomish smelters remained behind in Hill's Edge, but you send word to them once you start pulling ore out of the ground.

Yurkal: Ok, good. On patrols within 1-2 hours of the site, are there any Monster tracks or similar?

DM: There are all kinds of tracks going in all kinds of directions, but nothing seems very recent

By the way, the ore seems to be running East-West. It's descending shallowly to the east, and going straight west.

Yurkal: This is what i meant. Yurkal will, as soon as he sees the main camp is orderly fnctioning, begin to look for further spots to mine until he detects a mother lode, securing years of mining, not only a few months. Or something Close to a mother lode.....

DM: You can't detect a mother lode. You can only hope to stumble across one. You don't have any idea how much iron would be in a mine unless you have some serious magic to bring to the effort. You can keep prospecting if you like, though the rest of the group might head off and do other things while you do

Yurkal: Yurkal will, in a second step, order a large area to be Setup and protected in the same way as the main camp, so he can give shelter to bypassing Caravans.

DM: The only caravans coming from the north would be Zhents coming out of Yellow Snake Pass

Yurkal: hrmmmm. tempting. but even Yurkal is not that stupid...... i mean to attack them or similar. Okay, but if Caravans are spotted, they are closely watched to avoid sudden attacks or similar.

DM: Right. That's easily enough done. The Zhents have closed the Pass to non-Zhent traffic

When do you head back to Hill's Edge, or do you try to get the group to meet you at your mine? Sakr comes and tells you he has things under control the day they start pulling ore out of the ground

Yurkal: Ok, so i wait until this hppens, then depart back towards Hill's Edge as fast as possible. I will let Sakr know that Finius is in Charge of all my mercenaries etc. and that Ameena is his right hand. Ameena is told to watch nothing happens to finius, and to watch Sakrs activities also closely. Back in Hill’s Edge I will inform the smelters where the mining site is. and also inform the Roustinghorns we have been successful.
DM
GM, 1233 posts
Thu 17 Apr 2014
at 20:20
  • msg #3

Re: Solo Missions

Corym Courting

Mirtul 14 - the day after Yurkal's mining expedition leaves

After a day of scrivening, Corym takes a walk off the compound.  With Teg and Yurkal abroad, having had his fill of Karilla for the day, and Elo no where to be found--he takes a walk to find the most interesting person he's met here: Porsevere.

Porsevere is where you would expect: in the fields north of Hill's Edge but still within the walls. She and her employees are busy preparing the horses for the spring; mucking out stables, taking stock of the remaining grain, tending the horses, and all the other multitude of tasks a horse farm requires

She raises an eyebrow at you as you approach. "No dress this time?"

“Couldn't find anything flattering enough.  The road has taken the curve out of my hips." He sighs and pats his haunches.

“You never had any hips to begin with. Even if you hadn't gotten the dress on nigh backwards, that would have told me you were no woman."

Corym looks wounded, but mockingly so.  "The hips on the horse you traded to me seem to work passing well though.  I'm just not very good at aiming the hooves so far."

She smiles slightly. "He's one of my horses. Of course his hips are good."

“It's one thing to accept the testimony of an expert, and another thing to see it yourself.  I'm going to be positively spoiled riding this one."  He hooks a thumb at the horse behind him.

Porsevere nods, but says nothing.

Corym raises ink-stained fingers, "This doesn't do much for my combat riding skills.  From your words, there are no better horse archers than the people of your homeland.  Do you think you might have time to give me some pointers?

“Some day, I'd like to be worthy of the beast beneath my oh-so-slight hips."


“No."Porsevere shakes her head. "I have a business to run, and in spring we have most of our foaling and studding. And I need to move the herd out of the city, where we can graze for free and teach the horses properly."

“Business." Corym shakes his head, then looks back up at her, "If it's a matter of money I happen to have come into some."

“I've no doubt, what with your trip out into the Backlands and Hardbuckler," Porsevere says. "But it's not a matter of gold. It's a matter of time. If I had another five Crinti here…" She pauses. "Well, if I had another five Crinti here I'd likely be dead. But at least I'd have people who I could trust to mind the rancho.

“These local lads and lasses are enthusiastic when they're not cringing, but I still need to do far more than I should."
She shrugs. "Maybe in a decade I'll have things settled enough I could take on students."

“I don't happen to have time to be a student in any case."  Corym looks to the horizon, then back to her, "But the light's failing, your hands will soon be more worthless than usual, and I somehow sense you don't often get to take a night ride.  I'll pick up what I can and enjoy the intriguing company."

“You'll forgive me, but I've spent the last two days bending my neck over books with a hometown girl silently scribbling beside me.  I need something to break it up.  You and your horses are the most intriguing things I've seen from Berdusk to the High Forest, and it's been awhile since I've taken a night-ride myself."


Porsevere raises an eyebrow. "Are you honestly asking me to go riding with you?"

“I might have been too obscure by half the first time I asked, but I think I said it rather plainly just now."  Corym clears his throat, puts a foot forward, bows a modest fraction, and concludes, "In other words, yes.  I am."

She shakes her head, clearly bewildered. "Why?"

“Because I like you?"  One side of his mouth quirks up.

“I like that you're different, and that you're not intimidated by that.

“I like the passion to take to your life."

“I like that you call a fool a fool--because I often am."

“And I'd like to know you better.."

“Sufficient cause for a ride?"

“You must understand, that like the time I came as a queen--I had no intention of being this forward.  You just happen to be able to pierce all of my disguises."


“From an elf?" Porsevere shakes her head. "I've got two horses that still need tending, and grain that needs moving away from enterprising rats."

“But ask me tomorrow; maybe I'll say yes."

“Tomorrow." Corym agrees as if she's already said yes.

Porsevere rolls her eyes and turns back to the herd.

Corym slides smoothly back up into his saddle and sets off back to the Roustinghorn estates

Ten nights later…

She finally says yes.

By this time Porsevere has moved most of her herd outside the city gates. They're on the east bank of the river, about a mile from the city. Only the most pregnant mares are still inside the walls.

The two of you exit one of the city's northern gates. It's twilight, the sky mostly cloudy but warmer than it has been in several days. She looks at you and raises an eyebrow.

“So. You've gotten me into the saddle, when I should be making for my bed. And now?"

“We ride, we talk, and when you're sufficiently annoyed, we part.  Night rides aren't very complicated, Porsevere."

Corym spurs his horse forward into the evening.

She kicks her horse gently and he starts ambling north. "So, this was your idea. Only fair you start the talking."

“Quid pro quo.  I ask a question, then you do--fair?"

“Fine." She snorts. "Hardly romantic."

“Contrived romance is hardly worth pursuing.  Organic is the way to go there.  And I have already asked a question.  Your turn." Corym smiles roguishly.

Porsevere shrugs. "Why aren't you trying to kill me? Most of your kind either run in the opposite direction or draw swords when they see me."

“Easy enough, I and I've had enough time to think on it the past nine nights.  I come by tolerance honestly--my father was similarly disposed.  A hereditary inclination for thumbing your nose at irrational traditions."

“Similarly you could say that we share the same oppressors."


“You've met other Crinti before me?" Porsevere says with a chuckle. "Or no, I suppose that's another question."

“Indeed--it is. What's your fondest memory of home?"

“Riding the rancho, tending the horses. We had one of the finest ranchos in the north. Not as good as the Queen's horses, of course, but still excellent bloodstock. Joys to work with."

She glances at you. "Or I suppose I could say killing the impudent males who rode south out of the wastes trying to raid. That was fun too. Unlike many I could point to, they knew how to fight properly."

“At least I am aware of my ignorance--I'll remember not to raid you!"

“I wasn't actually referring to you, but if you like…" Porsevere shrugs. Thinking a moment, she added, "What is Hill's Edge to you?"

“More enjoyable than it was yesterday, for one thing. A place--far from my normal wanderings, but there was a noble that needed an escort home.

“Home hasn't always been a comfortable place for me, so I travel, I see the world that home tries desperately to keep out, and look for the beauty in it and try to bring ours to it as well.

“Running away from trouble seldom solves it."


“Sometimes running away from trouble is the *only* thing that solves it," Porsevere says wryly.

“Running can buy you time, but that's not what they're doing.  No plan at all really--and no vision.  I'm an architect--vision is my gift, and my People simply don't have any anylonger.  Too much looking in."  He shakes his head sadly.

“Who's unromantic now? The North must be wildly unlike northern Dambrath--what is Hill's Edge to you?"

She shrugs. "A stopping point. A place to regroup. A fine market for my horses; there are caravans heading every which way, and more than enough militant fools who want quality mounts.

“I've been here a little while; I may stay longer. And when it's no longer hospitable, I'll move on."
She smiles slightly. "My wealth is mobile."

“With the Rocs, Griffons, and Manticores--I can think of safer pastures to populate."

She smiles. "They've learned to stay away from my herds."

“Ah yes, a Southron horse archer AND magician--I imagine so!"

“So, a question for me." She stops and thinks, then smiles slyly. "What's Cyric to you?"

“Just another danger--one more courteous than most.  His followers wear signs, or symbols at least, the better to avoid them.  It's the dangers I don't see that worry me more."

“Ah, you evade the question. I wondered when you'd start."

“Am I not direct enough?  Let me rephrase: As one that works in the night and never fights fair unless he has to--in some sense I fall under his purview.  It is his malice and mindless hostility that I disdain.

“Moreover, I find his theology to be derivative--dependent on other values for their existance.  Ironic since he simultaneously denies the validity of all others.  Like a house denying the existance of a foundation.

“Well named the Mad God."


“Is that why you killed his priests?"

“No.  I killed his priests because someone that had something that I needed wanted them dead, and because my ethics did not inhibit me from accepting the job.  Those that deal in murder can hardly cry foul when their deeds are repaid in kind."

“True, though I doubt they'll hesitate to murder back, once they figure out who did the initial killing." She shrugs. "Not that it's any of my business, of course."

“But in knowing you've made it your business, haven't you?" Corym stops his horse. “Question. I'll not ask you how you know--you'd tell me if you wanted to, and not if you didn't. What is my life worth to you?"

Porsevere looks at you frankly. "At this point? Nothing. But then again, neither is your death. I'm a foreigner, and a not-well-loved one at that. I herd information as well as horses. It's not that hard to figure out, when you watch who goes and who comes, and when the Cyricists scurry around. But I'm not going to ride over to the Fist and whisper in someone's ear, if that's what you're asking."

She continues riding at the same slow pace, and glances over her shoulder. "I would have done it days ago, when they would have paid me the most, if I were."

Corym follows. "Then you have either misspoken or are irrational.  When you can have something of value--money--for something of no value--my life--it makes sense to exchange the one for the other.

“Your question."


“Ah, but then I get wrapped up tighter with the Fist. They already think of me too much." She smiles sweetly. "Not everything is about you, dearie."

“Now, let's see."
She glances down at her horse, then laughs. "Does that companion of yours have any brains under his helmet? Or does the wind just whistle through it endlessly?"

“His sword-arm is worth more than his horse-sense, to be sure.  Just another hot-blooded child of the Calim and with an especially prickly sense of honor."

Porsevere snorts. "There's a reason we raid their shipping."

“Who are you more like, your mother, or your sire?"

“My sire. If I were like my mother, I'd be dead. And you?"

“My father in character, but surely not in prestige.  Though whether he is dead or lost, I cannot say."

She raises an eyebrow at you.

“I will answer the question yet unasked.

“My father was nobly born, and raised in the militant traditions of our people.  A true horsemen and swordsman--he raised both the form of art.  After Myth Drannor's fall, and we came to the Fortress Home, he joined a errant crusading order of chivalry--reclaiming lost artifacts and honor of our people from the depths of ruin.  His name was celebrated, but one day he never returned.

“And that's all I know.  Since I'm not a member of the Order--too tainted--they won't tell me to where he was dispatched."


“I see."

“So I wander the North, and hope to hear word of where he may have gone."

Porsevere nods. "There are worse reasons to travel."

“I gather so.  They must want you desperately for you to come so far north."

Porsevere smiles slightly. "That question will go unanswered."

“I assumed so."

“Good. First appearances aside, I did think you had a brain with you."

“And an eye too." He winks at her. “And so we come back to my first question. Fair? I seldom play so, but you certainly are."

She raises an eyebrow. "The human tongue has too many different meaning for that word for me to understand the question. It would be easier if we were speaking drow."

“Only for the one of us that undestood it. And now my foretelling is fulfilled:

“We have ridden..."

“We have talked..."

“You are annoyed..."

“...and now we must part."


Porsevere glances up at the now-dark sky and nods. "Works for me." Turning her horse, she rides back toward Hill's Edge.

Corym looks at her. "But perhaps you are not so annoyed, that you wouldn't mind doing this again some time?”

Porsevere's only answer is a grin seen briefly over her shoulder.

Corym races her back to the gate.

It's only close because it's after dark, and Porsevere doesn't feel like risking her horse by asking him to run full out. But Corym can tell that she could leave him in her dust the moment she decided to.
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