From:  "Thrandorian"  
Date:  Fri Apr 5, 2002  4:07 am
Subject:  Chapter 7 (page 132)

 
At sixty-eight, Quentin Pell was in reasonably good health. Life 
within the priesthood had kept him well nourished, physically and 
mentally sound. His body had never known the abuse of alcohol, 
narcotics, hunger or untreated illness. If not for the gray hue his 
hair and beard had taken on in the most recent decade of his life, he 
might have been mistaken for a man in his forties. 

Yet as he recovered from the stupor that had left him unconscious 
upon the floor, Quentin Pell felt stretched, thin, weakened. Like an 
old man. What had just happened to him? He rose slowly and leaned 
against the mahogany table upon which sat his letters and journal. 

Beginning to piece together the events which had occurred within his 
vision, he considered whether he had traveled astray upon the threads 
of his astral "seeking", or if another power had guided him
to the vibrations of the past. He could not say. Not enough 
information to work with. He had been taught by the Prelate that 
certain moments from the past (especially where great deeds were done 
or many souls had perished) might live on in the form of vibrations, 
resounding throughout the cosmic planes. Had he been subject to an 
encounter with such a phenomenon? Or was it a vision sent by Asithur?


Somehow he felt certain there was some reason this had taken place. 
In thousands of prayers and literally hundreds of 
"communions", nothing of the sort had ever happened. He had
never even heard of it happening to anyone of his order. This
wasn't some random occurrence. 

Unless he was losing his mind...

Putting that aside for a moment, Quentin poured himself a glass of 
water and sat down to think. He reviewed what he could remember of 
his childhood studies of the origins of modern civilization and 
culture. 

Alarion was an empire of legend. Nearly ten thousand years had passed 
since it's days of rumored glory. A very few preserved writings; 
saved for millennia in stasis, recorded the day's of their
ascendance and destruction. What little was known told of a golden 
empire, advanced beyond the comprehension of those who rose from the 
ashes of their fallen civilization. Those who survived became the 
seven nomadic tribes and ruled for three thousand years. They were 
the ancestors and origins of all the races, religions and magical 
devotions. Now, even the tribes were the subject of ancient myth and 
mystery. That was about all he knew.

Usually Quentin felt rather than figured out things. He often just 
knew the right thing to do. Rarely had he required coaching in morals 
or protocol. This had been his primary talent and was responsible in 
no small part to his success within the priesthood. Now that talent 
was telling him that he had been exposed to a viewing of the moments 
shortly before the ancient ones brought destruction upon themselves. 

He wished he had seen more of the vision but he had not been himself. 
He had not even been in control of his actions. It was more like a 
waking dream. 

He had nearly seen it all! How had they destroyed themselves? What 
was the significance of Yethi and the comet? Why had his 
consciousness been drawn within this one council Lord, D'Jardan? Who 
was this Grey Mage? The Grey Mage was a friendly character mothers 
used in stories they told their children about fanciful adventures. 
This Grey Mage was nothing of the sort. He was seemingly incorporeal 
and carried the aura of incredible power.

Quentin found himself wishing he could take his concerns and 
questions to Algnamar. The Prelate could always help him see what 
he should do. He wouldn't mind the interruption or chastise
Quentin for seeking guidance, he never did. But Quentin would feel 
ashamed to ask for help now that he knew what was expected of him. 

That was one reason why Algnamar was so well loved yet also feared by 
the priests. There was no escaping his questions. His demeanor was 
always calm and peaceful but he could make you see yourself and 
actions from a different perspective. That could be horrible, 
especially when your actions were questionable and you have only 
yourself to argue with. He would never judge you. Instead he left you 
to do it yourself. Those who were incapable of such introspection 
rarely passed his Tasks of Acolyte and thus never achieved 
priesthood. 

The Prelate had taught him that he must become great in order to 
achieve greatness. Yet that in order to find greatness, he must not 
seek it. Quentin had no idea what that meant at all and the Prelate 
never answered questions. He only asked them or spoke without 
rebuttal so Quentin was left to fathom it as best he could.. 

The high priest had made him see something in their last meeting. As 
was the Prelate's custom, he simply asked Quentin a series of 
questions, never answering only asking him things. Eventually it 
became clear through Quentin's answers that he might very well
become the next Prelate himself and that much of this would hinge 
upon his handling of the challenge before him. The Prelate must be a 
priest of the highest devotion, but even more he had to be the 
arbiter of wisdom and logic. The Prelate had to be a leader. 

Pell saw himself in no way a leader. Respected yes, but not a leader. 
He denied the Prelates implications, pointing out his many flaws and 
shortcomings. The kindly old man had only smiled in response, then 
abruptly left him without further word. There was no argument or 
proof stronger than the Prelates. He must try as never before to 
achieve the old mans vision of him.

Quentin also knew he had to learn to socialize with commoners and 
gain their trust, their cooperation. To instill confidence in all men 
for the word of Asithur. To help them to see themselves as well. To 
help them to see the path. 

That would be his greatest challenge. He was respected and consulted 
frequently by intelligent colleagues within the confines of his 
temple and wealthy congregation but the common man would not listen 
as a more educated person would. They bemoaned their lot in life and 
couldn't see how insignificant that was in comparison with
eternal bliss.

He would start with Silvana's party. If he could learn to work
with them, provide spiritual guidance, maybe even find salvation for 
the thief, then he could learn to be the leader his church would need 
when Algnamar passed on to his reward.
 

 
 
From:  "lordironfist70"  
Date:  Sat Apr 6, 2002  10:22 pm
Subject:  Chapter 7 (pg 133)

Silvana looked more closely at the little silver key she held. In a 
thought she waved her hand over the small object and let the magic 
flow from her. With a snap of her mind her halted the spell and 
claimed to the others that it had no magical properties.

The group pondered what would a key, inside a talisman to Yethi be 
for unlocking. Yethi had no temples, no shrines, no places of 
worship at all. So the godling had no location were some hidden 
chest might be found. All this is even more bizarre because if they 
had not stubble on the fact that the serial killer was performing 
his acts in the pattern of the godling Yethi, then Silvana would 
never have given this Talisman a second look. Perhaps not even then 
if it was not of such a large size. Protective talismans of godlings 
are small to place above doorways or in certain parts of the home. 
This talisman was large enough to be an idol to the godling. But 
what sort of person would worship solely for Yethi?

These question may be better answered by our new friend, the priest 
of Asithur; Quentin Pell, the group decided...

**************

It was almost morning when the three men in black, on horseback, 
rode up to a small farm house just outside Razibor. A elderly lady 
came out to greet them. Words were exchanged and an arguement broke 
out. The elderly women rushed towards the closes of those on 
horseback and pulled him from the saddle. She dragged him to the 
next horsemen and with a back hand swipe, knock him off. The third 
man slid off his saddle and fell to his knees asking for 
forgiveness. With unworldly strength the old women threw the 
screaming body she still had within her grasp at the last man. The 
two collided and rolled to the side.

Her silver hair glittered in the waning blue moon light as she spent 
the next several minutes thrashing about the three men with her 
hands and their own bodies. When she finally allowed them back unto 
their horses she was not even breathing hard from her assault on 
them. With a few chosen words from her the three men continued to 
ride. The near-morning lights of Razibor in front of them.

*************

Eli and his chosen men awoke early to avoid any special send off the 
villagers might have been preparing to give them. As quietly as 
possible Eli's small group left the village and headed down the road.

With any luck and their good horses they would be in Razibor to meet 
his friends by tomorrow morning. After his stay with the 
overzealous, although well-meaning villagers, he could not wait for 
the calm company of Silvana, Dragonus, and Kyle.
 
 
 
From:  "reverendzen"  
Date:  Wed Apr 10, 2002  6:53 pm
Subject:  Chapter 7 (pg 134)

"Perhaps the talisman isn't from a worshipper of Yethi," Dragonus 
offered. They had been debating the use of the key for some time, 
with no conclusion in sight. "You said it yourself. Why would 
someone worship Yethi? After all, godlings don't normally have 
regular followers. They're more like the messengers and right-hands 
of the gods themselves. And as we've concluded, since Yethi is a 
godling, there aren't any temples or such for worshippers, so the key 
would be worthless."

From the corner of his eye, Dragonus saw a sinister black shape in 
the doorway. Instinct drove him as he pushed Silvana to the floor, 
then jumped back as he drew a dagger. But the figure was gone.

"What the-" Silvana said, recovering her footing and flipping her 
hair from her eyes. Her eyes fell on the dagger sticking from the 
back of the chair where she sat only moments before.

"Someone knows we're onto them," Zendra said, peering out the 
doorway, her own dagger in hand. "He's gone, no sign of him."

Dragonus jumped to his feet and ran for the door. Zendra barely had 
time to move before he was there; she felt his arm brush against her 
head as she jumped back.

"Where are you going?" Kyle yelled after his little, nimble friend, 
trying to keep up but running into the walls at every turn.

"Our cleric friend is in trouble," came the faint reply. "I have a 
feeling he's next." And with that, he was gone.

********************

Quentin sat at the table, scribbling notes on the vision he had just 
experienced. He wanted to get everything on paper before he forgot 
it. Like a dream, the vision was fading, though some aspects of it 
were burned into his mind.

There was a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" he asked. He had become leary after his one experience 
with the dagger and the trip line. That, and he was too tired - and 
busy - to answer the door. His question was answered by another 
knock.

With an exasperated sigh, he stood, hurrying to the door. "Who is-" 
he flung the door open, stopping in mid-sentence and dropping to the 
floor to avoid a quick dagger thrust. Luckily for him, his weak legs 
gave out in time to avoid the loss of his life.

The dark robed figure disappeared from sight, followed by a blur as 
someone else ran across in front of the door. Pell leaned forward 
out the door and thought he recognized the thief, but who was the man 
he chased, and why had there been another attempt on his life?

Dragonus jumped, diving at his victim to tackle him to the ground. 
He caught a heel hard in the chin as he hit the person he was 
chasing. He saw the world spin, but fought to maintain his 
bearings. The way he had landed on the man's foot, he surely 
tripped, and should be laying somewhere up ahead.

But the man was gone. He heard the footsteps fade as the figure 
somehow fled, and cursed silently to himself as Pell stepped up 
beside him.
 
From:  "vonromig"  
Date:  Tue Apr 16, 2002  9:22 pm
Subject:  Chapter 7 (pg 135)

"You alright?" asked Pell.

"Yeah." grumbled Dragonus as he picked himself up.

"It is always this dangerous in Razibor?" Pell said, as he wondered 
how anyone would want to live under such conditions.

"We're getting out of this city... and now."

It was not long before Kyle, Dragonus, Pell, and the two women, 
Silvana and Zendra found themselves just off the road four miles out 
out of Razibor. They had a rented a wagon, loaded with all of their 
belongings, including the swords bought by Kyle, and had been pulled 
by rented mules. From this spot they could see in all directions for 
miles and catch Eli when he returned... which should be late tonight 
or very early tomorrow.

Too much was happening to fast. The attacks continued even tho they 
had Zendra with them, so if it was not the Moon Guild who else were 
out to kill them? The Cloaked Man? Dragonus was going to have to get 
in touch with JP somehow and learn where the Cloaked Man's cabin 
was. Dragonus was also going to have to be sure that it was JP and 
not the Cloaked Man in disguise.

So the group would remain on the roadside to prevent further attacks 
while Dragonus would search for JP when night fell...
 

From:  "a_nasty_mouse"  
Date:  Sun May 5, 2002  12:28 am
Subject:  Chapter 7 (page 136)

Dragonus had a thought, it was one that might work on getting him the 
knowledge of where this supposed cabin was. To much had been 
happening lately and he was allowing it to distract him fro the 
purpose of his mission, for that he felt shame. He had forgotten that 
only Kyle of the group fully trusted him, and some of his actions had 
caused Silvana to question that trust. Well his actions that that 
wench ……… Now it was time to earn some of that trust back, by doing 
what he should have done from the start. 

It was nearly dark as he made his way to Lady Juliana's chateau, 
soon it would be time for JP to go to bed and if it were the fake he 
would want to get out of the house so that he could conduct the 
business that he was really here for, that would require him to go to 
the cabin and discuss this with any of his confederates. All Dragonus 
had to do was wait, then he could follow and find out what it was 
that he needed to know, it was just as simple as that. It was one of 
the first rules that he had learned as a thief and the one that had 
been giving him the most problems with this situation. Keep it simple 
stupid. 

Eli was finally to Razibor, it had been a very hectic ride indeed. It 
reminded him of the old tale about why it was that people should be 
careful of what they wish for. These six men had driven him nearly 
crazy with their desire to serve him in every way possible, and they 
had done it all because he was their hero. He had always wanted to be 
a hero in a way, but he had never expected such treatment to go along 
with it. It was cloying and made him feel as if he would loose his 
ability to think and act for himself. He would be glad to let these 
individuals cater to Silvana's every whim, she was more used to such 
fussing then he was. 

He was surprised to see Silvana and Kyle waiting for him just outside 
the city, with them was the Cleric they had brought from Fenthrasher 
and some woman he didn't recognize. Because of the size difference he 
was fairly sure that the new comer wasn't Dragonus although he wasn't 
sure why the little thief would want to disguise himself as a woman 
anyway, so it had to be someone that had joined up with them 
recently. It seemed that there would be some explaining to do all 
around. 

Kyle ran up and greeted him in his boisterous friendly fashion, no 
matter what happened it seemed that Kyle would never change. It was 
reassuring in a way, humans so often changed so quickly that it was 
hard for Eli to keep track of who they were. Kyle helped him to 
dismount and it took and act of will for Elias not to shoo him away. 
Kyle wouldn't understand that action since he was only doing what he 
normally did, and didn't know about the ever-present aid the 
villagers were giving him. 

`Kyle take care of our guests, I need to talk to Silvana for a little 
bit and find out what is going on.' Kyle nodded and went off to round 
everyone up. Eli went over to Silvana and smiled down at her, `It 
seems you have been doing some recruiting of your own, come over here 
and tell me about it.' The strange woman started to follow until 
Silvana mentioned to her to wait. It seemed to reaffirm his statement 
about Silvana's recruiting. As Silvana explained the events of the 
last few days, Elias began to wonder if he didn't in fact have the 
better of it. Random attacks, or perhaps not so random, and 
involvement with the local thieves guild it was enough to make a 
simple Ranger's head spin. As Silvana was nearing the end of her tale 
Kyle came up, `Dragonus is back he found the cabin'
 

 
                 

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"The Fenthrasher Enigma"
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