Duendewood vs. Solari: Departures

"It has been our great honor to stay with you here," Geddy was saying, when Ruin staggered out of the monastery and over to the wagon. 

The woman who stood facing the gnome was human, willowy but imposing, with dark skin and salt-and-pepper hair. A handful of other robed figures stood behind her, but none of them spoke and all seemed to have their attention focused on the gnomish bard. The tall woman, who had to be the Abbess, replied: "It has been a great pleasure to meet with emissaries of Mythrandril, and I pray that your efforts will help end the war and reconcile our peoples." 

"This is our hope as well..." Geddy was saying, when Martini caught Ruin's arm and helped him sling his pack into the luggage bay of their wagon. 

"What is wrong with you?" she whispered, as Ruin leaned on the back panel and resisted the urge to toss himself in with the luggage. 

"Tired," he whispered back. "Haven't slept in two days. It's been busy."

Martini looked around suspiciously. "You haven't gotten us in trouble, have you? I stole Lilly's diary again, and it said something about a... girlfriend?" 

Ruin looked around, but the only people nearby seemed to be the abbess and her attendants, and none of them were looking at him. "He has no idea," Ruin said, "and don't tell him. If anyone comes looking for me before we're away, tell them I'm dead." He paused, and then added: "Of exhaustion." 

Martini turned her head, looking speculative. "Oh, really?" 

"Really," said Ruin, and stepped up into the carriage before stretching himself out to die. Or sleep. Or whatever caught him in between. It was a horribly un-Elvish thing to do, whatever it was, but at this point he didn't care. As long as they all got on their way and nobody else wanted him... Yes. Please. Corellon, Amun, any other deities who might want to throw people at me... I beg you: mercy. Let me be. At least give me a day or two to recover.

Eva settled in beside him and handed him a water bottle. "So I've been talking to Rita," she said, and Ruin nodded out of reflex and took a long drink of water.

"She's back in the forest, and she isn't planning to leave again. But she talks to grandfather too sometimes, and she's wondering about maybe trying out this people-thing that you keep doing, if we ever pass that way again..."

Ruin groaned, and pulled his cloak over to cover his face, and stayed still until the carriage started moving at last.

So here's one of those fun facts: when I originally conceptualized Ruin, he was very different from the way he's worked out in play. He was Nameless, for one thing, refusing to answer to his childhood name but not yet ready to choose an adult name, as elves usually do upon reaching maturity. He was a barbarian, but one who dressed in nothing but fancy clothes -- Conan with the fashion sense of Prince. "Ruin" was going to be an appellation of convenience, reflecting his current mood and outlook; he would use others, including Regret, Triumph, and Caution, and expect people to ask how he wanted to be called at any given time. That part hasn't worked out the way he'd expected; people have just taken Ruin and essentially made it his name. 

But the big thing about Ruin that I'd thought out in creating him but never managed to bring into play was that as a child of the Rebirth, the first generation of True Elves born after the emergence of the Hierophant An'Drow, he would be an absolute man-slut -- convinced that increasing the number of elves in the world was a moral imperative and willing to sleep with essentially anyone to achieve that end. But that never came up in the game, and his prejudice against humans blocked off a couple of situations where maybe he could have acted on it. So, I never had him act on it. 

I don't know where he's going or where he's likely to end up, romantically speaking. And Ruin-in-actual-play is a lot more restrained and conflicted than what I originally conceived, at least when it comes to relationships. But this is, maybe, a glimpse of what he could have been all along. 

Now I just have to decide what to do with Werendril...

Music: No Diggity

 I haven't thrown up any Postmodern Jukebox in a while so here: 

My plan to settle in and get organized yesterday did not entirely succeed, since I immediately ran into a couple of new issues and now I have to put those fires out before I can get back to what I was planning to work on. The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, which I'd ordinarily do today, is asking about my favorite book (I can't choose one) and how I'd cast it for a movie (I have no idea - I basically don't have opinions about actors). Hence, well, you get music. 

...Possibly as a tribute to my complete lack of diggity this week. What is the optimal amount of diggity for someone to have, I wonder?

Catching up and strength

I've been reflecting recently that for all the time I spend complaining about the holiday season and how stressful October-November-December can be, it's actually May -- and particularly the second half of May -- when things actually fall apart. 

It's not that I never noticed it before, it's just that I finally started looking back and thinking, Wow, that really has been a years-long pattern, hasn't it? ...Probably because this year it's been particularly acute. We've had a death in the family; my allergies are acting up and my sinuses are freaking out; the boys had their STAAR tests -- in person, at their schools, which completely threw off our usual morning pattern for a week; we've had so much rain that it's causing problems with our house; then we had the funeral, with all the attendant logistics of family in town; and now the boys are finally out of school.

Not all of that is wholly unpleasant, obviously, but taken together it's been a lot. We're exhausted -- Beautiful Wife, me, and the boys alike. 

But now we've finished Memorial Day Weekend and reached the month of June. Personally, I've bottomed out. I stopped reading a book right in the middle of it, not because it wasn't good -- it was excellent -- but because I just didn't have the energy to process it. I turned back to an old favorite and started re-reading that instead, and even then it's been slow going. I'd been working my way through the new collection of Wolfenstein games, but stopped about a third of the way through New Colossus and tried something simpler... and then dropped that and went back and replayed one that I know so well I could practically play it in my sleep. 

Writing progress? Well... not completely hopeless. I signed up for a writing class in the hopes of keeping my brain focused on the Shadow Academy project, and I've been dropping little character sketches here on the Blog o' Doom to much the same purpose, and it actually seems to have worked: I haven't made any real progress since the beginning of May, but I don't feel like I've lost my way with the thing completely, either. I have done a fair amount of fiction about my D&D characters here on the blog, but I blame my DM for that.

Work is in a similar condition: I have, at this point, only the vaguest idea of what I've been working on and what I need to be working on. Fortunately, I keep a checklist of work projects (on paper, for the sheer visceral joy of crossing them off when I get something done) and looking over it I see that I've actually finished some things that I hadn't marked off yet; that's a nice feeling. Also, I've spent the last several months alternating between working from home (Monday - Wednesday) and coming into the office (Thursday & Friday), which has been absolute hell on my sense of routine; with the boys out of school, I can go back to working in my tiny little corner of the morgue server room and maybe reestablish some patterns. 

So today's going to be a day to stop and regroup: clear out my email, look over my projects, clean up my desk, and just generally try to get myself grounded again so that I'm ready to move ahead with all the things I need to do. 

But not until after I finish my tea.

Also, and apropos of absolutely nothing, I have this song stuck in my head:

Duendewood vs. Solari: Intruders

"Ahhh..." Ruin paused in his doorway, leaning against the frame. This is not going the way I expected...

After the episode in the chapel, Aesa had dragged him back to her cell -- explaining along the way that she wasn't done with him yet. They'd paused to grab some food from the kitchens, and then Ruin had found out that no, she really wasn't done with him. Not for some hours yet.

The half-elf priestess had been sound asleep when Ruin finally forced himself to get up, dress, and make his way back. With any luck, he might be able to trance until his friends were ready to leave with the cart in the morning. Only... someone was in his bed. Or at least, someone was in this bed, which he was pretty sure was the one that had been assigned to him. 

Anica sat up, rubbing her eyes, and asked: "Ruin?" 

She was human, and a paladin; she couldn't see in the dark like he could, but clearly opening the door had been enough to wake her. "Yes, it's me. All is well. Go back to sleep." 

She cast the blankets aside and stood up, then put her hand on the wall and felt her way forward. "Not what I'm here for." 

He touched her arm, drew her into an embrace. "You're exhausted. Sleep." 

She shook her head, then brought a hand up to his cheek and leaned down to kiss him. "No, this is my last chance before you leave in the morning. That's why I was waiting here."

Ruin looked up at the ceiling. Really, Amun?

The steady drumming of the rain outside the window was broken by an extended flash of lightning, followed by a rumble of thunder that sounded, once again, like laughter. 

Son of a bitch, Ruin thought, half awed and half annoyed, and guided Anica back to the bed. "Here. Sit. It's fine. I'm glad to see you again." That part was both untrue and very true. "You're sure you don't just want to sleep?" 

"Slept already," she said. "I'm sure." 

"Well then," he said, and drew off his shirt; he didn't need to do the same for her, since she was already naked. 

She reached over, pressed her lips to his neck. "Glad we're not enemies," she murmured, as she kissed her way up towards his ear. 

"I, as well," admitted Ruin, and ran his fingers through her hair. "I find I rather like it here."

She drew back for a brief moment. "I don't suppose you'd consider staying?" 

Ruin shook his head, though Anica wouldn't be able to see that in the dark. "No... but I'd consider coming back, if our peoples ever stop fighting."

Anica chuckled, and he smiled. "Then that will have to do," she said, and reached for him again.

Tavros is going to kill me, Ruin thought, as he put his arms around her. He wasn't sure if it was true; it was one of those vagaries brought on by exhaustion. At least I can tell him that Amun approved, maybe... And just about then, thinking once more gave way to more important things.

Duendewood vs. Solari: Triumphs

Ruin was sparring with Akkora when Aesa finally returned. 

At first he didn't notice; fighting the half-orc armsmistress took all his attention. She was easily as strong as he was, and every bit as skilled; speed was the only edge he had. And she fought like he did: all nerve and instinct and controlled fury, fast and aggressive. It was only after they'd stopped and were toweling off -- and that because he'd eventually worn her down by dodging nearly everything she threw at him -- that Akkora grunted and gestured with her chin: "Battle priest."

Ruin looked, and saw Aesa sparring with a lean human who was probably a paladin. Ruin didn't recognize him, but the look of surprise on his face was unmistakable, even from across the yard. He wasn't losing, exactly, but he obviously hadn't expected Aesa to fight him to a standstill, which she clearly had. 

They were fighting with blunted steel weapons, instead of the wooden ones used for beginners: he with longsword and shield, and she with shield and scimitar. 

"Was that your idea?" asked a voice at his elbow, and Ruin looked down to see Eva, the child they'd rescued from the priests of Vecna and brought with them to the temple, standing beside him. 

She looked human, as long as you didn't pay too much attention to the disconcertingly golden glints in her tawny eyes: round-faced and blond-haired and sweet, her expression was one of innocent inquiry as she looked up at him. 

Ruin said, "Was what my idea?" just as Akkora asked: "Who is this?" 

"Oh, I'm Eva," said the girl, holding out her hand. 

Akkora reached out, and Eva clasped her wrist; the half-orc looked surprised. "Good grip. I'm Akkora." 

Eva let her go and said, "I just wanted to know if it was Ruin's idea for the elf-ish girl to talk to Grandfather and his nephew." She looked back up at Ruin. "Grandfather approved."

"Grandfather?" Baffled, Ruin looked from Eva to Aesa and back again, just in time to see Eva shrug. 

"He's not really my grandfather," she admitted. "More like my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather. But he likes us to call him that. And it's so much easier to talk to him here -- they have a big, fancy room downstairs just for that." 

It took Ruin a long moment to digest that. It took him another long moment to believe it. He'd heard that dragons were descended from the gods, but... Finally he said, "And... Grandfather... approved?" 

"Yes!" Eva sounded excited. "Look at how well she's doing!" She was looking at Aesa now, and Aesa was definitely winning -- even if that was partly because the paladin couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the idea that he needed to be fighting harder to defeat her. "Grandfather approved, and the other one approved too." She glanced at Ruin. "Your grandfather." 

"My... grandfather... approved." Ruin shook his head in disbelief. Corellon Larethian, she has to be talking about Corellon Larethian. Well... thank you, Grandfather, if you helped with this. Thinblood or not, she's still one of ours. And you too, Amun, I guess. He'd told her to pray to the gods, and evidently they'd answered.  

He didn't know why he was surprised by that. The whole damned thing had been his idea. And it wasn't as if he'd never seen clerics call upon the powers of the gods, or even as if he'd never seen the gods answer. 

Maybe it was just that they'd never bothered to answer him. Maybe it was just that, after everything he'd been through, he didn't expect the gods to step in and actually be some fucking use. No divine power had strengthened his arm when he needed it most.

Aesa slid past her opponent's guard and tapped him three times: thigh, arm, and shoulder. Then she stepped back as he lowered his blade and held up a hand. Then they were talking, and the human stepped forward to press his palm to hers. Ruin found that he was smiling. 

Akkora tapped him hard on the shoulder. "You, Elf, are my friend."

He glanced up at her. "I'm glad." He didn't elaborate; he didn't have to. When he looked back, Aesa was halfway across the practice ground and coming directly towards him; her opponent was trailing along behind her. 

"Praise Amun," she said, when she was close enough to speak without shouting. "Did you see that? It worked! It worked!" She threw her arms around him and kissed him firmly on the mouth, then turned back to her opponent before Ruin could respond. Before he could even realize that he needed to respond somehow. 

Ruin caught a brief glimpse of Azrael, making his way along the walk at the far edge of the practice field. The young elf in the black robes was looking at them, mouth agape; then he straightened, rolled his eyes, and continued on. This is going to end up in his journal, Ruin thought absently. 

Eva was saying, "See? I told you Grandfather liked you," and Ruin managed to nod as though this was all perfectly good and normal and exactly what any medium-sized child would say. Akkora had taken a step back and was regarding them all, bemused; half-orcs weren't known for their wits, but she seemed more than sharp enough to decipher this. 

"Ruin, have you met Tarric?" 

Ruin shook his head. 

Aesa glanced between them and said, "Tarric, this is Ruin." 

The human looked him over once, then nodded. "Anica said you were good people. And I see you've met Akkora already." 

"Best match I've had in a while," Ruin admitted. 

Akkora sniffed. "Bah. I didn't get near you." 

"...And you have no idea how hard I worked to make sure that was the case," Ruin told her, and watched a brief smile quirk her lips. 

"Come on," said Aesa, and slipped her arm into Ruin's. "You need to-- I need to-- you haven't even seen the chapel yet!" 

He waved vaguely at the others and let her draw him away. Eva was saying something to Tarric that made him blink and draw back -- more surprised than alarmed, though -- and Akkora was grinning wide enough to show the near-tusks of her lower canines. 

"It really is like fire and ice," Aesa was saying, as she pulled him around the corner. "I'm going to get a scimitar of my own. Maybe a magic scimitar! Or maybe the gods will bless it for me." She stopped, pulled him around and kissed him again. "It's going to be amazing," she said, and started off again, pulling him along behind her. 

Ruin couldn't bring himself to resist; her enthusiasm was infectious. 

Ahead of them, Geddy stepped out of a side-passage. He saw Ruin, grinned, and drew breath to say something. Then he focused on Aesa and his eyes widened. He pursed his lips, swallowing whatever he'd been about to say and possibly a rich bit of laughter as well, and stepped back out of sight. By the time they reached the intersection, he was gone.  

Ruin didn't recognize this area; he hadn't walked these passages. Aesa pulled him along, to the top of a triple staircase: the widest bit, in the center, looked like a comfortable descent, but the stairs to his right were lower and closer together, sized for smaller feet, while those to his left were broad and deep. A god for all peoples, Ruin thought, and moved with Aesa down the stairs. 

The doorway at the bottom was wide and high, large enough -- he thought -- for a dragon to pass through. The wooden doors were bound with iron, but they stood open and projected a sense of invitation. The room beyond was...

Row upon row of wooden pews marched towards the front, where a rectangular stone altar stood in the beam of light from a long channel that had been carved out to the edge of the hillside and covered with stained glass. Even with the glass out of sight and its light spread across the altar, Ruin could recognize the motif: it was a book, blazing where its depiction fell. 

"What you told me felt right," Aesa said. "So I came down here, and I prayed, and they answered. They told me I could be what I wanted to be, that I would honor both of them." She turned and kissed him again. "Thank you." 

"Bide? A moment?" said Ruin, because he had the feeling that they were about to reach a point where he would be very uncomfortable to have the gods looking on. "This is the heart of the monastery, the chapel of Amun." 

Aesa nodded. "Can you feel Him? Or Corellon?"

Ruin shook his head. He didn't; he never had, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. "This is... not for me. For you, and I'm glad of it, but not for me." 

She smiled, still holding onto his arm. "But you did this. You brought me here." 

Ruin shook his head again. "That was your gods," he said. "It wasn't me." 

Her smile faded, but she kissed him again. "If you say so. But I got the idea from you, and it worked, and I know what I was meant to do now and you were part of that." 

Ruin straightened and looked around the chapel. It was buried deep in the hill, but even with the heavy clouds outside it seemed brightly lit. Whoever had carved the channels to the outer edge of the mountain-top had known what they were doing. "I hope you don't mind this," he called, to any gods that might be listening. "I hope you're getting whatever you want from me." 

Outside the monastery, thunder rumbled across the sky. Even through the stained-glass windows and the carved stone passages, it sounded dangerously like someone chuckling. 

Aesa said, "I'm not getting what I want from you. Not yet. Come on." 

She took his hand and pulled him around behind the altar, then kissed him again as she tugged his shirt up. 

"Here?" Ruin  looked around. "Are you sure this isn't blasphemy?" 

Aesa shook her head. "Not to Amun. To Amun, this is an offering." She grinned at him, looking slightly crazed but also more certain of herself than he'd ever seen her -- in, admittedly, the day-and-a-half of their acquaintance. "Think of it as the good kind of virgin sacrifice," she added, and tripped him onto his back on the stone. 

Then she was on top of him, and leaning down to kiss him again, and it was nerve and instinct that took over. Whatever sort of divine madness this was, he wasn't going to fight it. If there was a price, he would pay it later -- and willingly.

Challenge: My Fantasy Vacation

For the last two years, I've been taking part in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge over at Long and Short Reviews. The first link will take you to the list of topics; the second one goes to the homepage, where you can find a post with everyone's responses each week. Feel free to join in! 

The prompt for today is "my fantasy vacation". So, well, all right...

I open my front door and I'm looking down my sidewalk to the street. The mailbox is relatively new, the lawn is covered in grass and very green after all the rain we've had, and the neighborhood is quiet. I close the door again, because none of that is very interesting.

Then I think about it for a while. All right, I'm not going on my own. So I help Beautiful Wife and the boys get all ready to go: comfy shoes, durable pants and shirts, a bit of equipment and a change of clothes just in case...

We open the front door again. 

The concrete sidewalk is gone, replaced by sparkling flagstones lined by a pair of hedges that close into an arch overhead. The light out here is dim and green, and fireflies flicker as they move back and forth. This definitely wasn't here before, but that's sort of the point, isn't it?

Everybody troops forward, and I lock the door behind us. 

We emerge from the end of the hedge-tunnel into a land of sparkling white, where snow gleams underfoot and our breath turns to smoke in the chilly air. Stately trees bear their decorations of frost, and the moon is barely visible through their branches. A young man in a leather jacket is leaning against a lamppost nearby, smoking a cigarette; I note that what appeared to be furry trousers are on second glance the goat-legs of a faun. 

He looks us over, eyes wide with surprise. "Sons of Adam? Daughter of Eve?" 

"Wrong turn," I say, and start herding the boys back the way we came. 

"Hang on!" calls the faun. "Our rentals are very affordable! And you can catch the lift up to this bitchin' Black Diamond slope if you hurry--!"

It's too late for him; we're back in the tunnel, only this time instead of the leaves and branches of hedges we have thirsty roots wound through rich, dark soil. The short passage back to our door is gone; this one winds and turns and seems to double back on itself. The floor still sparkles, though...

This time when we emerge, the path we were on has turned to gold in the morning light, and rolling green hills stretch away to either side. A pretty young woman in a wide -- and suspiciously clean -- dress of pink and white turns to face us, smiling brightly. 

"Oh, no," I say, when I spy the wand. "Not here, either." 

She looks puzzled. "But haven't you come to...?" 

"Flying monkeys give me hives," I tell her, truthfully. We turn our steps the other way, and this time Secondborn leads us off to the right. He's eleven, and impulsive, but we follow him anyway.  It's another tunnel, low enough that Firstborn and I both have to duck down, but it's neither dark nor dirty; the rounded, wood-paneled walls are clean and set with wide windows that look out from what is clearly a hillside. 

"Here we go," announces Secondborn, and leads us out through a circular wooden door. 

We're tall here, tall as none of us are in our own world, but the people we meet are friendly and only slightly suspicious of how we arrived here and why we might want to get to the Lonely Mountain. They give us directions to Rivendell, and a strong hint that we really ought to ask for advice from the elves there; we set off. 

As we're leaving the Shire, Firstborn turns to me. "So... wait. Are we going to slay a dragon?" 

I shake my head. "Not this time. You're not ready yet. Besides, dragons are an endangered species; we don't hunt them for sport. No, this is just a chance to travel culminating in the opportunity to steal a bit of dwarven treasure back from the dragon's hoard. What do you think?" 

"I don't know." He turns to look at his younger brother. "What do you think, Bro? Best vacation ever?" he asks. "Or just the best vacation ever?" 

Secondborn studies him suspiciously. "Um... yes?" Then he nods decisively. "Good thing I brought my Poké Balls."

Beautiful Wife puts a hand on her vorpal sword and grins at me, and off we go on my fantasy vacation.

Sol Povos: Old Man Kaz

Old man Kaz lives in a manasion a few miles west of fanax. It sits atop a hill, surrounded by tangled, leprous vine and old farmlands. The gravel hill leads up past a five-foot stone wall. The house is a single story, with a steep roof and many windows; the place is wooden, but well-cared for, and lit by lamps along the path. On the left is a smaller building, probably for servants. There is a family graveyard off to the right, filled with eerie red mist.

Ahead of us a short, stout guy with dirty blond hair; the other is tall and skinny with a spindly beard and no hair, and only sort barely properly dressed; he immediately starts waving.

"HAIL, GOOD FELLOWS!" Tavros is happy to see a friendly face.

Tug starts to come over but Lug grabs him and motions for him to get back to work.

Tavros: "Have we reached the house of Old Man Kaz?"

Lug: "Yes. Knock on the door."

The door is answered by an austere, Middle-aged lady who appears to be some sort of servant -- name Aelith. Running up behind her is a young, pretty blonde who is probably also a servant. She invites us inside: "Master Kaz welcomes all guests."

Marshall: "This is a mighty find place y'all have here, but goodness am I tired... and thirsty..."

Aelith: "Yes, please follow me."

We enter a dining hall. Old Man Kaz is at one end of the hall; another old woman named Beatrix scows as a very pretty young woman named Katarina welcomes us.

Marshall: "My friends have come with questions; but I, as wandering priest, could offer you my blessing in exchange for libations."

Master Kaz calls to Alice and asks if the harvest has come in.

Katarina stays here by the grace of Master Kaz; Beatrix is Kaz's wife. Katarina makes introductions; Tavros  introduces himself, and Katarina looks at Alexej. "Will you be staying for dinner?"

Alexej: "Of course."

Marshall: "I am Marshall Mercy, a travelin' priest. Perhaps I might bless your crops and offer some tidings for the harvest."

Kaz: "Oh yes, it's almost time for the harvest! I must speak to Mark. Does he have the crew ready for the harvest?"

Katarina: "Mark left years ago, master. The vines stopped when the rains began. But perhaps Mr. Mercy could lend a hand to our garden." She bats her eyes at him.

Leira says hello and then sits down.

Alice comes sweeping back in and starts passing wine around; another man comes in and starts setting appetizers around. "That's Joseph; he helps Brom in the kitchen."

The food is actually very fancy. Tavros digs in; it's as good as the food at the King's table.

Beatrix tells that Brom has been with the family for years; Beatrix sends Alice to the kitchen to extend our compliments to him.

Katarina: "So tell me: Marshall, you 're a priest. The rest of you?"

Tavros: "We have questions about history, before the rains began."

Kaz: "Where is Gale?"

Katarina: "Gale left years ago."

Kaz: "You should stay with us! Ayleth! Have rooms readied!"

Ayleth: "Of course!"

Tavros: "Lady Beatrix, we came to speak with Kaz; but it occurs to me that you may remember many of the same things that he does."

Beatrix, who is old and sports some sort of sores on her skin: "I remember FAR MORE than he ever does. Come and speak to me afgter dinner."

Marshall: "Lady, I see you have some  conditions. I could perhaps offer healing."

Beatrix: "Nice to have a *respectful* young man in the house."

Katarina: "So Alexej, clearly you're the brawn of this operation."

Beatrix is flattered by Marshall's attention. "Tell me, are *you* married?"

Marshall: "Vow of chastity, but I do keep an out for a Mrs. Hiss."

Joseph comes in with the next course.

Katarina turns to Leira: "You must be the daughter of one of these fine men."

Leira points at Tavros, the half-dragon: "Adopted!"

Beatrix: "So Marshall, do you have any family at home?"

Marshall: "The only family I have is here," and he pulls out one of his snakes. "I am a friend of nature."

Beatrix is a bit taken aback by this, but: "It's just that you're so handsome..." She touches his knee under the table. "You have any more snakes in there?"

Marshall: "You know as well as I do that a good snake charmer does not kiss and tell."

Kaz: "Well, I just want to welcome you as my guests. You'll stay the night, right? Come and join us for dinner."

Kaz asks after King Baldrik; apparently he was quite a fan. "My grandfather, of course, knew him very well. He was the High Commander of his army!"

Marshall: "Word is that someone is trying to get rid of all this rain."

Beatrix and Katarina both focus on that revelation. Ayleth tells us to see her in the foyer about our rooms.

Marshall: "Lady Beatrix, what is your role in this household."

Lady Beatrix: "I'm his wife!"

Marhsall: "Yes, but the lady of every house has her pursuits and her interests..."

Lady Beatrix: "Oh, I see. I am into a bit of gardening."

Marshall: "What sort of gardening? I once knew a woman who raised the most beautiful garden of the most poisonous plants..."

Lady Beatrix: "How terrifying. You might have seen the hedge maze out back; in the middle is a beautiful garden that I myself tend. If you find your way to the center, I will show you my flowers."

Marshall: "Shall I see you there tomorrow."

Tavros: "Katarina, may I ask your role in this household?"

Katarina: "I'm just a humble guest." She puts a hand on Kaz's arm. "It was love at first sight, though."

Tavros: "It's... so... good to see an old man so very well cared for."

Katarina rubs Kaz's arm, and Kaz gets this *grin*... Beatrix, meanwhile, is glaring daggers at both of them.

Kaz looks at Leira: "You're a pretty little girl. Why don't you talk to Joseph? He's a fine young man."

(Joseph *is* quite good-looking.)

Tavros: "I would have to think very hard before allowing my daughter to wed at such a young age."

Joseph and Alice return and begin sitting out the main course, a very fine pork dish with nuts. Katarina scoots closer to old man Kaz as the dinner winds down; Beatrix eventually gets up and leaves.

Tavros leans over to consult with Marshall, who will talk to Beatrix; Leira intends to visit the library. Tavros well, perforce, talk to old man Kaz.

Leira and Marshall speak to Ayleth, who offers to take them to their rooms. She leads them down the hallway. Marshall follows, and she shows them to a room with bunk beds.  There are some spider webs in the corners. She does advise against poking our noses around; apparently we shouldn't visit the east wing. "There are other visitors who Mr. Kaz wouldn't want to have disturbed."

Ayleth and Alice have rooms in the west wing; there might be snacks in the kitchen. Leira asks after the library, and Ayleth denies that such a thing exists. She does keep some ledgers, but nothing interesting...

Leira: "And what wing is that in, so I know not to got here?"

Ayleth: "Good question. That's in the west wing; please avoid it. The master suite is down the hall past Alice's and my rooms."

Alexej does some wandering and finds Alice, Joseph, and Brom in the kitchen. Joseph and Alice are planning a party in the shack; Alexej is in favor of this. The others are fine with this. Apparently the servants sing and dance when they're off work. Joseph's ready to invite all of us; Alexej is awkward but goes along with it. Also, there's a lot of leftover food in here; Alexej is prepared to eat it.

Brom is an advocate of styrian hens, from the north part of the island; ordinary chickens aren't nearly as good. Ayleth says many of the supplies are hard to get and too expensive.

Joseph is saving up for his own place. He wants to start a restaurant in Fanax.

Alexej wishes him good luck and great happiness. Joseph loads him up with a giant plate of food and turns him loose again. Alice offers to show him to his rooms, and Alexej accepts. She tells him about the mysterious other guests, but when he asks she says they're not really supposed to talk about them.

Meanwhile, Tavros draws Kaz out about his father. He's offended at the implication that the original Kaz was anything less than a loyal servant of the throne. He doesn't have any memory of the archmage or the war.

Kaz invites Tavros to look around anywhere; Katarina corrects that Tavros is welcome to look around the grounds. Tavros answers that he's more interested in memoires of the general. She indicates two tapestries.

Kaz: "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! My grandfather was the high commander; a close friend of the king. He often dined at Sandorn castle." ...That was the Archmagister/dark one's castle.

Kaz goes off on the battles. We hear about general Kaz's sword. The only thing left after he was gone. It was returned to his father's safekeeping. His father's grave is in the family graveyard.

We wind up at this point; Katarina leads old man kaz off to bed. They leave Tavros in the foyer, where he wanders around looking at art and whatnot.

Marshall, meanwhile, sets out to find Beatrix and runs into Tavros instead. Tavros brings him up to speed on what he learned from Kaz; then, before he does anything else, he uses his paladin Detect Evil ability to just scan the house.

In the Southwest quadrant, he senses Evil - a little ways down the hall, maybe the third door down. Southeast, he does not sense evil. To the Northeast, there's some evil off int he distance -- probably the graveyard. But also there are four evil auras, all stong, across from what turns out to be out guest room. North of that, there are four more moderate auras. He tries the northwest quadrant next, and sense two evil auras: one strong, and one overwhelming.

Ayleth *really* doesn't want us to look around; she would like us to "have a safe stay" instead.

Alexej, meanwhile, has alerted Leira and Marshall to the party, and has claimed a lower bunk to sit on and eat his plate of food. He flops down, and feels something digging into his back.

There's a book under sheets.

It looks like a spellbook. He tosses it to Leira; it's definitely a spellbook, but she's a sorceress and most of it is lost on her. Still, she's pretty sure that no wizard would willingly leave behind their spellbook. Alexej naps while he waits for his party.

Leira casts Invisibility and goes to the west wing. On the way, Tavros tells here about the Evils. Leira continues on, invisible. She stops to listen at a doorway... but after a couple of minutes, she doesn't hear anything. She tries the door...  it is not locked. She goes through it and comes into a little office. The main desk is covered with ledgers and books Leira starts looking through them. It looks like it's all Ayleth's work, and the overall accounting of his finances is down to 3,000 GP - which is low. Note: "If I can negotiate a bulk price on the oil, I can finally order those truffles that Brom wanted.

She searches the desk, finding little of interest; but the change in purchases indicates that Katarina arrived about two years ago. There's an old parchment on the back "Although my lord is shamed in his death by a false king, I know that his soul remains unblemished and whole." It's signed by Destrian, the personal priest of the general, and talks about bringing his sword back ("stained with the blood of Vecna") to be interred for all eternity.

She also overhears Katarina talking to Old Man Kaz in the north room.

Leira heads back to our room.

Marhsall is concerned by Tavros' warning; they're still talking when Brom and Joseph and Alice come out and invite us along. Marshall goes with them; Alexej follows.

The "shack" that is the servants' quarters is actually very well provisioned; the servants have been smuggling food and drink over her. Joseph is very excited to have people here; he fetches out the bagpipes and the drum. When the dancing starts, Tug comes out and starts dancing wildly; but nobody makes fun of him. Marshall thinks Tug is touched in the head.

Tavros and Leira, meanwhile, head around to explore the east wing. Tavros opens the door to something that appears to be a sauna for... demons. Or something.

Tavros: "Oh, excuse me. This isn't our room." He closes the door again, draws his sword, and backs away.

Marshall and Alexej areat the party, and Marshall keeps turning the wine into water and stays sober; Alexej witnesses this and starts trying to keep up by drinking the same amount of wine. Alexej finally figures out that Alice and Joseph are An Item.

Joseph is *really* smitten, and sits down next to Marshall to swoon over her a bit.

Marshall: "Are you courting this fine lady?"

Joseph: "She so wonderful. She could be with anybody -- she could marry someone with money."

Marshall gives him a pep talk, points out that he's going to start his own restaurant.

Joseph confirms that Kaz and his estate are sliding into insolvency.

Marshall: "You mind if I ask you about Katarina?"

Joseph: "Oh. She showed up a couple of years ago, with some traveling merchant."

Marshall: "Was that about the point when Kaz was starting to lose his wits."

Joseph: "Round about. Though she's not as faithful as you'd think. You saw her making eyes at Alexej, right? You should have seen her with Gusalin, about a month ago. She was leading him out into the garden and all over the place. I don't even know what happened to them; I think the four of them just left in the night or something."

Joseph also knows about "creepy creatures" in the east wing -- the same things Tavros just found.

Marshall: "I've never heard of anything like that, but it sounds terrifying. What about Ms. Beatrix's garden?"

Joseph: "The hedge maze? It's creepy. I went in a little ways, kind of went up the left side, and I found this statue and then centipedes starts pouring out of it. I ran all the way back out, and I swear they were chasing me."

Marshall calls out one of his snakes. "I don't usually worry about  bugs."

Joseph: "There were more of them than that one snake could eat, though."

Marshall: "Well in that case, I'll need to be-- erm, get a bigger snake."

There's not too much coming and going; every so often somebody will go into the back room, or step outside to take a leak. Marshall does so, and take a moment to look around outside... and look into the windows from the outside.

Alice, meanwhile, is sitting by Alexej: "It's so much fun to have guests. We haven't had guests in a while. Not since Gosalin, and that Salivar guy... Gosalin was head over heels for Katarina. And she was totally cheating on the master."

Alexej: "Was the master always so... coco-bananas?"

Alice: "I mean, maybe not always, but..." She looks around. "So, have you been talking to Joseph? Do you think he likes me?"

Alexej: "Yes. I think you jump on that bronco."

Alice tells Alexej a bit more about the previous adventurers; she thinks they just sort of disappeared one night, too. Does she know why those adventurers were here? No. On the way to see the lizard-men, she thinks. There isn't much of anything else in this area.