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I kill it and take its treasure, part 6
Ye gads, last night's session was fantastic. It's been running through my head all day. I'm not sure I can properly capture the tension in a summary like this, but I assure you emotions were running high for a good 3-4 hours. So here you go. 5000 words, yet again. Feel free not to read if you haven't been following until now -- it probably won't make sense if you don't know the back-story.
D&D Campaign, session #5 (April 18, 2006)
Background:
Glothram has 3 sisters and 2 brothers. His older brother, the town's new butcher and a member of the Conclave, is called Aimric. His younger brother, Barlin, is a day-laborer and cotter. Two of his sisters are married, the third is apprenticed to the town fuller. Glothram is one year younger than Seb and Corrigan (23 now) and was 12 when his parents were killed by a raiding party of orcs, just after the Time of Troubles.
*****
The game begins the same morning we left off last time. Seb tries to remove the arrows from Caulamber's body, but two of the arrowheads break off in the wound and Seb cannot get them out.
Corrigan, with a sinking feeling, rushes over to Clenstantia's house, where she had left her and all Myrthas' treasures the night before. Though Corrigan knocks at the door, there is no answer. Fearing the worst, Corrigan picks the lock and slips inside. As she enters, Clenstantia's bird accosts her, and beyond Corrigan can see Clenstantia absorbed in the green crystal. Images are floating just above the surface, but Corrigan can't make them out. Izir, Myrthas' clockwork owl, stares at her from the corner of the room. Corrigan quietly slips out again.
She rushes down to the docks, and asks Seb if Eemin can guard Clenstantia's door, just in case anyone would want to take her and the treasures. Seb thinks it would be a bad idea, but suggests Corrigan go and guard the house herself. Corrigan agrees, and asks Seb to get her when he is ready to set out for Caulamber's grove.
Meanwhile, Seb and Glothram continue to deal with the body. There are maggots on it, unusual given the freshness of the corpse, and Glothram detects a faint aura of evil over the body. He tries to "turn" the body, to no effect that he can see. Together, the two decide to take Caulamber to Ardru at the Shrine of Kalemvor, in order to get shrouds and dressings for the body. They are greeting at the wall of the cemetery and ushered inside.
Appraised of the situation, Ardru casts a spell over the corpse, and the maggots flee in all directions. Another spell, and a protective wall flares into life around the corpse, and the maggots shrivel and die as they touch it. Ardru snatches up one before it hits the wall, places it in a crystal vial, and offers it to Glothram. Finally, he casts one more spell, and the effects of water on the corpse disappear. Together, Ardru, his acolytes, and Seb begin dressing the body.
*****
Corrigan, meanwhile, has waited an hour outside Clenstantia's house, playing her flute and biding her time. When she thinks that Clenstantia should certainly have been done her meditations, she goes up and knocks on the door. Again there is no answer. Picking the lock (again), Corrigan enters the house. Clenstantia is not there. Neither are any of Myrthas' treasures, except for Izir, the clockwork owl. Corrigan rushes down to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord, cursing herself as she runs. Clenstantia is not there, nor has she returned to her house. Newly resolute, Corrigan runs up to the Shrine of Kalemvor in the hopes of finding Seb there. Just past Clenstantia's house, she thinks someone is following her, but the feeling passes.
Corrigan reaches the shrine just as Seb is finishing with the body. She tells him and Glothram the situation, and asks if Seb can see anything in the tracks outside Clenstantia's house. Together, the three make their way back.
*****
It is morning, and Ivellios awakens in the sanctum of the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord. The voices are quieter, almost inaudiable. Kurias enters and tells Ivellios he has found nothing wrong, either spiritually or physically. He tells Ivellios he sees no reason the sorcerer need stay in the tabernacle.
Ivellios, trying to explain the situation to Kurias, lets slip the name "Ideld." Kurias obviously has no idea what he's talking about. Ivellios assures him that he is feeling all right, though perhaps not in the most convincing way. [Line of the night #1: "The voices in my head tell me there's no problem!"] Kurias, concerned again, asks Ivellios if he wishes to stay, and cautions him against leaving before he feels fully ready. Ivellios again assures him he feels fine, and makes his way out of the Tabernacle. A young acolyte follows him at a distance as far as the door, and then he is alone again.
Beyond the threshold of the Tabernacle, the timbre of the voices changes but does not become any louder. Ivellios makes his way to Amasar's house without incident.
*****
Glothram, Corrigan, and Seb arrive at Clenstantia's house. Searching in the ground before it, Seb makes out three sets of tracks from this day. Reconstructing events, he interprets them as follows: Corrigan arrived, entered the house, and left. Then Clenstantia left, burdened with something, and with a small bird hopping in front of her. She left towards the docks and did not return. Corrigan again returned and left. Finally, a third set of prints, probably a lightly-booted man came and went, tracking Clenstantia's prints.
Glothram rushes home to get his armour, while Corrigan again opens the door to the house at Seb's request. The owl is still there, but nothing else of value. Corrigan finds a hidden compartment in the floor, but it is empty. Clenstantia seems to have left in a hurry, taking with her extra clothes and all her valuable effects. Corrigan takes a small piece of clothing for Eemin to pick up Clenstantia's scent, but otherwise leaves the house undisturbed.
Glothram returns just as the two are exiting. In his rush to meet them, he muddies the tracks outside the door, and nothing new can be learned from them. Seb has a clear picture of them in his head, however, and the three make their way to the docks.
*****
Ivellios arrives at Amasar's house, though Amasar has not been there in some time. The house has been battened down, and is clean though somewhat dusty. Ivellios lies down on Amasar's bed and tries to focus on the voices in his head. With a conscious effort he brings them back to the level of a maddening whisper. [out-of-game: though why he'd WANT a maddening whisper is beyond me] Again he interrogates them:
"Can you help me?"
"Yes."
"Would would you like me to do?" Silence.
"Must I go against Ideld for you to help me?"
"No."
"Must I go against her allies for you to help me?"
"No."
"Must I enter into combat on your behalf?"
"No."
"Must I retrieve something for you?"
"No."
"Do you require anything of me?"
"No."
"Do you want--"
"No."
"Can you tell me what must be done?"
"Yes."
"What must be done?"
A thousand whispers answer him.
"Are you in an afterlife?"
"Yes."
The voices fall silence and Ivellios, drained, falls asleep.
*****
Seb and Eemin together trace Clenstantia as far as the docks, but then the confusion and crowd overpower any trail. Corrigan begins asking around, and finally Arnash, a fisherman, tells her that he saw Clenstantia approach several boat captains, and may have boarded a medium-sized ship with a black feather painted upon it. The ship is no longer at the docks.
Corrigan goes to the Squeaky Eel and talks to Balaquist, but it's clear that even with a bribe, he won't tell her anything of use. Corrigan has been away too long, and there are other, more immediate people he needs to keep happy. Instead, he hints that a certain someone (meaning Kevan) might have more information.
Saddened, Corrigan tells Seb she doesn't feel right leaving the city when Clenstantia might be in danger. After a brief consultation, they decide that Seb and Glothram will transport Caulamber's body while Corrigan stays in Morningvale. Seb says they'll be back in 2-3 days, and Corrigan promises to leave word with Glothram's brother if she needs to leave the town.
Seb and Glothram make their way west, and Corrigan stays behind.
*****
After a few hours, Corrigan goes to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord to see Ivellios, only to be told by Kurias that he is no longer there. Kurias also tells Corrigan that there has been no change in Panlos' condition, and that he will likely take him to Scornubel in a few days. He tells Corrigan that when Panlos had originally come into the service of the Morning Lord, Kurias had given him a powerful amulet. In his present condition, it is not doing any good to Panlos or anyone else. Kurias asks Corrigan whether she feels Glothram is spiritually mature enough to accept it, hinting if he does, it might be best if he assumed the Order of the Aster. Corrigan, though full of praise of Glothram, tells Kurias it is not a decision she can make, and that he must speak to Glothram.
Leaving the Tabernacle, Corrigan hears from an acolyte that apparently Ivellios went north-east, a direction Corrigan knows is towards Amasar's house. Not wanting to spend too much time away from the docks, in case someone is looking for her, Corrigan makes her way back to the heart of Morningvale.
Several hours later, Corrigan feels a hand on her shoulder. "I wondered when you'd show up," she says, and turns around. It is not Kevan. It is Mossa, Seb's younger brother. After embracing him, he tells Corrigan that he had tracked Clenstantia at Kevan's request and pointed her towards the Black Feather. He doesn't know where the ship is going, other than "downriver." He thinks Kevan knew more than he was saying, but oddly would not tell Mossa.
He asks Corrigan not to tell Seb, Soreimar, Mik, or Zetta that he had been spending time with Kevan, and not to tell Seb about their meeting. He doesn't want to see his brother, and he won't speak about himself other than to say he's had a bad day. With that, he slips away back towards his post, leaving Corrigan to ponder the fate of her friend.
*****
When Ivellios awakes again, it is night. Realizing he is quite hungry, he gets food from Amasar's larder. Once he has cleaned up after himself, it is about five o'clock. [Line of the night #2: "I'm crazy, not inconsiderate!"]
He goes to town, but none of his boats are in. He thinks about how he can get more information from the voices in his head. [Line of the night #3: "I don't talk to dead people nearly enough."] Briefly, he considers talking to Ardru, the priest of Kalemvor, before realizing this would be a bad idea. He tries knocking at Clenstantia's door, but there is no answer, and no light on inside.
As he is wandering around the docks, Corrigan catches sight of him and fills him in on the latest developments of the situation. She also tells him about the possible connection between Ideld, Nybor, and Netherese magic. The two speak in Draconic, lest anyone overhear them.
*****
Seb and Glothram, meanwhile, head westward. They only manage to secure a ferry-ride across the river with difficulty, and with an exorbitant payment. After a few hours, Glothram feels something unusual, but Seb assures him there is nothing wrong.
Just before dusk, Seb sees a rough semicircle heading away from him, in which some leaves are a bright green and others are completely shrivelled. Climbing a tree, he realizes that the semi-circle is, in fact, a full circle. To Seb, it looks like an early version of one of the dead zones he and Corrigan had seen on their way back from Myrthas' tower. Halfway up his tree, a branch feels different: looking more closely, Seb realizes it is covered in fine cracks, and there is no sap in it. He quickly scampers down.
Though Seb feels no persistent presence from the circle, he does feel a complete lack of life. He suggests the back off slightly and pitch camp before making their way through in the morning.
*****
Once Ivellios has been appraised of the situation, he recommends a ship, The Siren's Kiss, which might be able to catch the Black Feather. It was built by Amhar the shipwright and is one of the swiftest on the River Reaching. Its captain, Cator, used to work under Captain Kee on one of Ivellios' ships.
Briefly stopping in with Glothram's brother Aimric, Corrigan leaves the message that she is going south, possibly as far as Scornubel on The Siren's Kiss, and asks him to tell Glothram when he returns in a day or two.
[At this point, for a variety of reasons, the table degenerates into pointless laughter. They made sure that this went into the minutes, as it is of utmost importance... or something. Anyway, on with the story:]
Iveillios and Corrigan find Captain Cator with his ship, and Corrigan lets Ivellios do most of the talking. Though Cator had not been planning on travelling, he suggests (jingling his coin belt) that he might be "persuaded" otherwise. He also says that it will be very difficult to catch the Black Feather, though again with some encouragement, he's sure The Siren's Kiss could do it. He tells them his usual rate is 12 gp, but since he has no cargo he would double it. However, since Ivellios is a friend, he would be willing to shave that sum.
Before accepting the two as passengers, he mentions that he has information that might save them even more of their money. Warily, Corrigan agrees and allows Ivellios to pay him. Cator tells them that the Black Feather harbors in a cove about a half-day's ride south along the river. Knowing that they were not well-provisioned this morning, he would lay strong odds they got no further this day. He describes the location, and Corrigan recognizes it -- a tributary off the River Reaching just past the Bluffs of Morning. But, he insists, "you never heard it from me." Thanking him, the two decide to set out by night, in the hopes of reaching the Black Feather before morning.
*****
Halfway through the night, Seb hears an unnatural noise, halfway between a howling beast and the whistling wind.
*****
Corrigan and Ivellios make their way across the Bluffs of Morning. It is a treacherous journey at the best of times, full of loose ground and sudden cliff-faces. Though Corrigan had recently been along the Bluffs, Ivellios had not, and the two make slow progress under the sliver of a waning moon. Corm, Ivellios' raven, flies alongside nervously.
At about five in the morning, they see a fissure in the bluff-wall, about 40 feet away. It is illuminated from within, as though by a fire. They hear a dull, repeated rasping, vaguely metalic, coming from beyond the fissure.
Ivellios casts invisibility on Corrigan and she slips inside. There, about twenty paces to her right, she see a set of steps cut into the edge of the fissure, about three feet across, going down. Sitting about ten feet down the stairs, there is a black-cloaked man sharpening his blade. On the other side, Corrigan sees a cave at the bottom of the fissure lit by firelight.
Realizing she cannot get past the sentry, and not wanting to kill him, Corrigan returns to Ivellios. They decide to wait for the invisibility to wear off and then approach the sentry openly.
As they walk down, they hear a quiet horn blowing, and a grey-clad figure closes in behind them, cutting off the exit to the fissure. "Who goes there," he asks.
*****
Seb and Glothram awake and break camp. By morning, Seb examines the dead circle more closely. He judges that it extends about 100 feet in all directions. The leaves crumble into dust at Seb's touch and below his boots. The green leaves seem unnaturally so, as though there were not ready to fall from the tree. Touching a tree, the bark comes away in his hand, and the wood below is seamed with tiny cracks, and no sap.
At the very centre of the dead zone, Seb sees a ring of burned earth, three inches wide and two feet across. Glothram senses a faint aura of evil from it. Picking up handfuls of earth, Seb sees that at least there are insects living within it.
Seb hears a rustling from the deep quiet. Following it, he makes his way to one of the trees. Tearing off a piece of bark, he sees the inside of the tree is swarming with insects of all kinds, eating the tree from the inside out. Seb realizes all the trees are like this, even the one he initially tested, but that the insects grow in intensity towards the centre of the circle. Eemin won't even enter the outer ring.
Finally, Seb and Glothram realize they can learn nothing more, and picking up Caulamber's body, the continue on to his grove and reach it in about three hours. Approaching it, Eemin looks nervous and Seb realizes it is very, very quiet.
*****
Ivellios hears the step from the grey-clad figure almost before he is in sight, as though the whispers in his head were warning him. The figure sweeps back his cloak to reveal two gleaming shortswords. He throws back his hood -- it is Mossa. The black figure before them is Kevan. Exchanging pleasantries and cautious words, Kevan invites them to follow him into the cave, where "his friend," Kambarian, is waiting for them. Mossa apologizes to Corrigan for the deception, saying it was Kevan's idea.
Kevan says that Clenstantia has caused them trouble, and that the situation is complicated, but will not say more.
At the base of the fissure, outside the cave, they can see the Black Feather moored, and the area within looks well lived-in. Marse, one of Kambarian's men, meets the group at the entrance. Though he greets them warmly, he tells Corrigan and Ivellios that they must remove their weapons, as a matter of protocol. Corrigan entrusts her swords to Kevan, and leaves one dagger concealed in her clothing. Though Kevan raises an eye, he says nothing, and the four are ushered inside.
Within, Corrigan can see two caves leading off beyond, supplies, a drydock... essentially everything a smuggler might need in a cove. Kambarian greets them and leads the four to a small, grey chamber beyond the mean room. Magic torches light the walls. In one corner, bound and gagged, Clenstantia lies huddles, apparently unconscious. In the other corner is her gear. Corus, another of Kambarian's men, stands over Clenstaia with a drawn sword.
A curtained section in the far end of the room parts, and a tall, grey-robed man emerges. He has a three-foot, iron-shod walking staff, and cold, piercing eyes. It is Cobrin, one of Myrthas' two senior apprentices.
Shocked, Corrigan tells Cobrin how happy she is that he is still alive. Cobrin accepts her at her word, but asks Corrigan what she saw on her recent trip to the tower. Instead of answering, Corrigan asks when Cobrin was last there. He answers that he was there during the attack, and that the perpetrator was none other than Clenstantia herself, with the help of Derfel.
Corrigan doesn't believe him. She says Clenstantia had neither the power nor the will to do something like this. "I will show you, then," says Cobrin. Taking possession of the green crystal, he places it over his heart and it sinks into his skin. In front of him, an image appears and Corrigan stares, enraptured.
*****
Seb and Glothram draw their swords and leave Caulamber by the grove entrance. This grove is dead like the other one, and perhaps even worse. There are insects swarming on fallen trees and, again, a burnt circle of earth at the centre. Caulamber's house has been burnt and crushed by a falling tree. A ring of druidic stones around the centre have been smashed and burnt with intense heat.
Seb hears buzzing from a burrow which used to be for Caulamber's animal companion, a wild boar. Approaching it, he sees flies circling around the opening and hears a slithering from inside. As Seb approaches, something errupts from the hole and lunges at Seb, hitting him in the chest. A hideous smell of decay washes over him.
Glothram charges at the thing, passing through the horrid stench to land his blow true. It slices through earth, and through something undulating below it, and out the other side. The beast doesn't react.
The dirt flies off the beast. It is the size of a boar, but only a skeleton. In a hideous parody of skin is an undulating mass of insects, mostly maggots. Some cling to Seb's chest where it hit him.
Seb backs off and casts flaming sphere over it, despite the maggots still eating his flesh. Glothram sees maggots contort and pop from the heat. It turns to face him and lunges, and then envelops him within its mass. Glothram breaks free and punches a hole in its "flesh," which closes almost as soon as it is made.
Again Seb rolls the flaming sphere over the monster, and again maggots pop and die. It lunches towards Glothram, and wounds him, but Glothram beat it back before it can envelop him again. Glothram tries to turn it, but he is so rattled the power of Tyr will not issue forth.
Seb once more passes the flaming sphere over the creature. It tries to hit Glothram again, but misses.
Glothram once more tries to turn it. The holy light of Tyr washes over it, but has no effect. Seb rolls the sphere one more time over the creature, as it is becoming considerably charred. Realizing the bigger threat, it turns on Seb and rushes towards him, leaping and closing the distance. He nearly knocks Seb over, but he manages to jump out of the way before being enveloped.
Glothram again tries spellcasting, this time "protection from chaos" on Seb, but again to no effect. Seb slices Saxat through the monster, but to no effect, and he springs away. The thing turns as if to follow, but then seems possessed by a berserk frenzy, claws at the ground, and shrieks. As though a wind were pasing through it, the insects are thrown off, and it runs off into the woods. Its howl grows further and further away.
Seb and Glothram take a moment to heal their wounds, and then realize they are not alone.
*****
The image from the Kiira N'Vaelahr emerges in front of Cobrin. For a moment it is blurry, as though he is passing past events to reach the right time. And then it settles and solidifies.
They see as though out of Myrthas' eyes. He is in front of the scrying pool, Talis beside him, and hears a commotion from outside. Oshwin cries out from the door, and Clenstantia and Derfel enter. "You know better than to disturb me, Clenstantia!" says Myrthas, sternly. Clenstantia bows her head, and says, "yes, Master, I do."
Without provocation, Derfel casts a spell at Talis: lightning from his fingers hits her in the back and she falls into the scrying pool. Myrthas begins to cast a spell, but before his finishes, Clenstantia hits him on the head, surprisingly hard. His spell goes awry and smashes into the scrying pool. Then the room goes blurry and Myrthas is standing in the upper room, below the weather-globe.
He hits his staff to the floor, places a hand on his chest and points to the weather-orb. As the globe goes clear, clouds mass overhead. There is more shouting from below. Myrthas sees Oshwin tethering the carpet, and he is blasted by fire from Clenstantia. She walks up the stairs slowly.
Myrthas conjures lightening from the orb and hits Clenstantia, but she continues to walk towards him. Mythras strikes her with acid, and though bruises blossom over her face, she still walks forward. "I thought to do this more easily," she says, "but I see this is the way it must be." Then purple-red fire from her hands strike Myrthas on the chest. Myrthas hits her on the face, but she is unphased.
From within her robe, Clenstantia pulls a wand, two feet long with a white egg-shaped gem at its end. She strikes him with it, and it shatters Myrthas' staff. There is an explosion, and the roof breaks open, raining down crystal. Myrthas goes down to one knee and reaches towards his chest.
Clenstantia strikes him twice, hard, with the sceptre. On the third strike, she says, "I WILL find the truth from you."
There is an explosion from below and Cobrin rushes in, Mikal in tow. Clenstantia turns to face them and her eyes flash, and Cobrin is immobilized. She smiles at Mikal and easily deflects one of his fireballs. Cobrin, breaking the enchantment, reaches up and twists the metal rods above, rocketing the downwards. Clenstantia side-steps them, almost as though she were forewarned.
With a smile, Clenstantia sends a wave of fire at Mikal, and he falls off the tower. Cobrin unleashes more spells, but still Clenstantia is standing. She speaks a word and his face begins to crinkle, and he plummets after Mikal.
Then she turns back to Myrthas, and the world goes dark. The last thing he sees is something blue-white passing from him into the end of the wand.
*****
The image stops and winks out. Cobrin tells Corrigan it took him nearly six weeks to recover. He says he found Derfel running in the woods, Cassaran's blood on his hands. By quick calculation, Corrigan realizes this took place almost exactly two weeks before the party arrived at Brightstone Keep.
There is a madness in Cobrin's eye. This is not the reasoned discourse Corrigan expected. She desperately tries to tell him that it was not Clenstantia, that it was Ideld the Deathless. Though both Kevan and Kamberian vouch for Corrigan, Cobrin snaps at them: "I will decide what is truth here, pirate!" (Corrigan, meanwhile, is somewhat distressed that Kamberian refers to Kevan as "my trusted lieutenant," but she has bigger things to deal with at the moment.)
Ivellios calms down Cobrin, and Cobrin suggests removing Clenstantia's gag. Corrigaan stops him, saying that if -- unlikely though it might be -- this is still Ideld, removing the gag would be a Very Bad Idea. Cobrin asks if they have any way of ascertaining her true identity. Ivellios steps in. He says, "Above Brightstone Keep, on the narrow pass, I looked into the mind of Ideld the Deathless." He offers to do so now, for Clenstantia, to prove her identity, if Cobrin returns his spell components.
Cobrin agrees, and Ivellios casts the spell. He senses terror and dreams, and below that a deeper fear and incomprehension, but there is no abyss: it is not Ideld. [Line of the night #4: "Hey, it's the abyss! Wanna go for coffee?"] With that, Cobrin tells Mossa to remove the gag and wake her. Clenstantia wakes with a cry, and begins to weep. Corrigan rushes over to her, and Clenstantia whispers that Cobrin made her watch the recording over and over.
Corrigan, coming to a decision within herself, decides to tell Cobrin about the dagger. She asks to speak with him alone, and he leads her back behind his curtained room. Corrigan tells him about the books, and about the dagger. She asks if he has ever heard of the Dagger of Nybor, and he admits that he has, saying, "It is said that whoever bears the dagger is a magnet for misfortune." Corrigan sighs and replies, "Then I must be such a magnet, for I carry the dagger."
With a gleam in his eye, he orders her to show it to him. When she receives her pack and draws out the dagger, Cobrin points to it and it hovers in the air before him, shaking. He chants an invocation and strikes it three times with his staff. At the third strike, the room flares with green-blue light from the gemstone in the dagger, and an image appears of a tall, shaved woman covered in tattoos: Nybor.
The dagger rockets into Cobrin's belt, and he tells Corrigan he is keeping it "as ransom" for her freedom. She insists that Clenstantia and Ivellios be set free as well. Considering, Cobrin tells her that he will only let her go if she explains how Ideld knew Clenstantia so well she could mimic not only her appearance, but also her voice and mannerisms.
*****
As the boar flees into the woods and the maggots disappear, there is a horn blast and a rustling of leaves. Suddenly, Seb and Glothram are surrounded by wood elves. One steps forward -- Seb recognizes him as a druid of Fandrigan's circle. Speaking in Druidic, Seb introduces Glothram and explains why they bear Caulamber's body.
The druid tells Seb that they had been sent to intercept him and Glothram on Fandrigan's orders, as they are summoned by him. Two elves take Caulamber's bier, and Seb and Glothram are escorted through the woods at a quick pace, surrounded by archers.
*****
Corrigan, thinking quickly, speculates that Ideld read Clenstantia's mind as she was leaving the tower to go to Morningvale. With a wild gleam in his eye, Cobrin tells Corrigan that the Kiira N'Vaelahr allows him the power to read minds as well. He tells her that if Ideld had indeed read Clenstantia's mind, there will be a trace, and he will search through her mind until he finds his proof, down to her deepest and most secret memories. Corrigan's eyes go wide and she begs him not to.
With a casual gesture, he freezes Corrigan in place. Still she shouts and begs him to stop. With another gesture, her lips close and her voice freezes in her throat. Cobrin leaves the curtained room and shuts the opening behind him, leaving Corrigan paralysed and mute in the darkness.
And now for a fast lunch, and then off to write the PhD Latin exam. TTFN!
D&D Campaign, session #5 (April 18, 2006)
Background:
Glothram has 3 sisters and 2 brothers. His older brother, the town's new butcher and a member of the Conclave, is called Aimric. His younger brother, Barlin, is a day-laborer and cotter. Two of his sisters are married, the third is apprenticed to the town fuller. Glothram is one year younger than Seb and Corrigan (23 now) and was 12 when his parents were killed by a raiding party of orcs, just after the Time of Troubles.
*****
The game begins the same morning we left off last time. Seb tries to remove the arrows from Caulamber's body, but two of the arrowheads break off in the wound and Seb cannot get them out.
Corrigan, with a sinking feeling, rushes over to Clenstantia's house, where she had left her and all Myrthas' treasures the night before. Though Corrigan knocks at the door, there is no answer. Fearing the worst, Corrigan picks the lock and slips inside. As she enters, Clenstantia's bird accosts her, and beyond Corrigan can see Clenstantia absorbed in the green crystal. Images are floating just above the surface, but Corrigan can't make them out. Izir, Myrthas' clockwork owl, stares at her from the corner of the room. Corrigan quietly slips out again.
She rushes down to the docks, and asks Seb if Eemin can guard Clenstantia's door, just in case anyone would want to take her and the treasures. Seb thinks it would be a bad idea, but suggests Corrigan go and guard the house herself. Corrigan agrees, and asks Seb to get her when he is ready to set out for Caulamber's grove.
Meanwhile, Seb and Glothram continue to deal with the body. There are maggots on it, unusual given the freshness of the corpse, and Glothram detects a faint aura of evil over the body. He tries to "turn" the body, to no effect that he can see. Together, the two decide to take Caulamber to Ardru at the Shrine of Kalemvor, in order to get shrouds and dressings for the body. They are greeting at the wall of the cemetery and ushered inside.
Appraised of the situation, Ardru casts a spell over the corpse, and the maggots flee in all directions. Another spell, and a protective wall flares into life around the corpse, and the maggots shrivel and die as they touch it. Ardru snatches up one before it hits the wall, places it in a crystal vial, and offers it to Glothram. Finally, he casts one more spell, and the effects of water on the corpse disappear. Together, Ardru, his acolytes, and Seb begin dressing the body.
*****
Corrigan, meanwhile, has waited an hour outside Clenstantia's house, playing her flute and biding her time. When she thinks that Clenstantia should certainly have been done her meditations, she goes up and knocks on the door. Again there is no answer. Picking the lock (again), Corrigan enters the house. Clenstantia is not there. Neither are any of Myrthas' treasures, except for Izir, the clockwork owl. Corrigan rushes down to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord, cursing herself as she runs. Clenstantia is not there, nor has she returned to her house. Newly resolute, Corrigan runs up to the Shrine of Kalemvor in the hopes of finding Seb there. Just past Clenstantia's house, she thinks someone is following her, but the feeling passes.
Corrigan reaches the shrine just as Seb is finishing with the body. She tells him and Glothram the situation, and asks if Seb can see anything in the tracks outside Clenstantia's house. Together, the three make their way back.
*****
It is morning, and Ivellios awakens in the sanctum of the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord. The voices are quieter, almost inaudiable. Kurias enters and tells Ivellios he has found nothing wrong, either spiritually or physically. He tells Ivellios he sees no reason the sorcerer need stay in the tabernacle.
Ivellios, trying to explain the situation to Kurias, lets slip the name "Ideld." Kurias obviously has no idea what he's talking about. Ivellios assures him that he is feeling all right, though perhaps not in the most convincing way. [Line of the night #1: "The voices in my head tell me there's no problem!"] Kurias, concerned again, asks Ivellios if he wishes to stay, and cautions him against leaving before he feels fully ready. Ivellios again assures him he feels fine, and makes his way out of the Tabernacle. A young acolyte follows him at a distance as far as the door, and then he is alone again.
Beyond the threshold of the Tabernacle, the timbre of the voices changes but does not become any louder. Ivellios makes his way to Amasar's house without incident.
*****
Glothram, Corrigan, and Seb arrive at Clenstantia's house. Searching in the ground before it, Seb makes out three sets of tracks from this day. Reconstructing events, he interprets them as follows: Corrigan arrived, entered the house, and left. Then Clenstantia left, burdened with something, and with a small bird hopping in front of her. She left towards the docks and did not return. Corrigan again returned and left. Finally, a third set of prints, probably a lightly-booted man came and went, tracking Clenstantia's prints.
Glothram rushes home to get his armour, while Corrigan again opens the door to the house at Seb's request. The owl is still there, but nothing else of value. Corrigan finds a hidden compartment in the floor, but it is empty. Clenstantia seems to have left in a hurry, taking with her extra clothes and all her valuable effects. Corrigan takes a small piece of clothing for Eemin to pick up Clenstantia's scent, but otherwise leaves the house undisturbed.
Glothram returns just as the two are exiting. In his rush to meet them, he muddies the tracks outside the door, and nothing new can be learned from them. Seb has a clear picture of them in his head, however, and the three make their way to the docks.
*****
Ivellios arrives at Amasar's house, though Amasar has not been there in some time. The house has been battened down, and is clean though somewhat dusty. Ivellios lies down on Amasar's bed and tries to focus on the voices in his head. With a conscious effort he brings them back to the level of a maddening whisper. [out-of-game: though why he'd WANT a maddening whisper is beyond me] Again he interrogates them:
"Can you help me?"
"Yes."
"Would would you like me to do?" Silence.
"Must I go against Ideld for you to help me?"
"No."
"Must I go against her allies for you to help me?"
"No."
"Must I enter into combat on your behalf?"
"No."
"Must I retrieve something for you?"
"No."
"Do you require anything of me?"
"No."
"Do you want--"
"No."
"Can you tell me what must be done?"
"Yes."
"What must be done?"
A thousand whispers answer him.
"Are you in an afterlife?"
"Yes."
The voices fall silence and Ivellios, drained, falls asleep.
*****
Seb and Eemin together trace Clenstantia as far as the docks, but then the confusion and crowd overpower any trail. Corrigan begins asking around, and finally Arnash, a fisherman, tells her that he saw Clenstantia approach several boat captains, and may have boarded a medium-sized ship with a black feather painted upon it. The ship is no longer at the docks.
Corrigan goes to the Squeaky Eel and talks to Balaquist, but it's clear that even with a bribe, he won't tell her anything of use. Corrigan has been away too long, and there are other, more immediate people he needs to keep happy. Instead, he hints that a certain someone (meaning Kevan) might have more information.
Saddened, Corrigan tells Seb she doesn't feel right leaving the city when Clenstantia might be in danger. After a brief consultation, they decide that Seb and Glothram will transport Caulamber's body while Corrigan stays in Morningvale. Seb says they'll be back in 2-3 days, and Corrigan promises to leave word with Glothram's brother if she needs to leave the town.
Seb and Glothram make their way west, and Corrigan stays behind.
*****
After a few hours, Corrigan goes to the Tabernacle of the Morning Lord to see Ivellios, only to be told by Kurias that he is no longer there. Kurias also tells Corrigan that there has been no change in Panlos' condition, and that he will likely take him to Scornubel in a few days. He tells Corrigan that when Panlos had originally come into the service of the Morning Lord, Kurias had given him a powerful amulet. In his present condition, it is not doing any good to Panlos or anyone else. Kurias asks Corrigan whether she feels Glothram is spiritually mature enough to accept it, hinting if he does, it might be best if he assumed the Order of the Aster. Corrigan, though full of praise of Glothram, tells Kurias it is not a decision she can make, and that he must speak to Glothram.
Leaving the Tabernacle, Corrigan hears from an acolyte that apparently Ivellios went north-east, a direction Corrigan knows is towards Amasar's house. Not wanting to spend too much time away from the docks, in case someone is looking for her, Corrigan makes her way back to the heart of Morningvale.
Several hours later, Corrigan feels a hand on her shoulder. "I wondered when you'd show up," she says, and turns around. It is not Kevan. It is Mossa, Seb's younger brother. After embracing him, he tells Corrigan that he had tracked Clenstantia at Kevan's request and pointed her towards the Black Feather. He doesn't know where the ship is going, other than "downriver." He thinks Kevan knew more than he was saying, but oddly would not tell Mossa.
He asks Corrigan not to tell Seb, Soreimar, Mik, or Zetta that he had been spending time with Kevan, and not to tell Seb about their meeting. He doesn't want to see his brother, and he won't speak about himself other than to say he's had a bad day. With that, he slips away back towards his post, leaving Corrigan to ponder the fate of her friend.
*****
When Ivellios awakes again, it is night. Realizing he is quite hungry, he gets food from Amasar's larder. Once he has cleaned up after himself, it is about five o'clock. [Line of the night #2: "I'm crazy, not inconsiderate!"]
He goes to town, but none of his boats are in. He thinks about how he can get more information from the voices in his head. [Line of the night #3: "I don't talk to dead people nearly enough."] Briefly, he considers talking to Ardru, the priest of Kalemvor, before realizing this would be a bad idea. He tries knocking at Clenstantia's door, but there is no answer, and no light on inside.
As he is wandering around the docks, Corrigan catches sight of him and fills him in on the latest developments of the situation. She also tells him about the possible connection between Ideld, Nybor, and Netherese magic. The two speak in Draconic, lest anyone overhear them.
*****
Seb and Glothram, meanwhile, head westward. They only manage to secure a ferry-ride across the river with difficulty, and with an exorbitant payment. After a few hours, Glothram feels something unusual, but Seb assures him there is nothing wrong.
Just before dusk, Seb sees a rough semicircle heading away from him, in which some leaves are a bright green and others are completely shrivelled. Climbing a tree, he realizes that the semi-circle is, in fact, a full circle. To Seb, it looks like an early version of one of the dead zones he and Corrigan had seen on their way back from Myrthas' tower. Halfway up his tree, a branch feels different: looking more closely, Seb realizes it is covered in fine cracks, and there is no sap in it. He quickly scampers down.
Though Seb feels no persistent presence from the circle, he does feel a complete lack of life. He suggests the back off slightly and pitch camp before making their way through in the morning.
*****
Once Ivellios has been appraised of the situation, he recommends a ship, The Siren's Kiss, which might be able to catch the Black Feather. It was built by Amhar the shipwright and is one of the swiftest on the River Reaching. Its captain, Cator, used to work under Captain Kee on one of Ivellios' ships.
Briefly stopping in with Glothram's brother Aimric, Corrigan leaves the message that she is going south, possibly as far as Scornubel on The Siren's Kiss, and asks him to tell Glothram when he returns in a day or two.
[At this point, for a variety of reasons, the table degenerates into pointless laughter. They made sure that this went into the minutes, as it is of utmost importance... or something. Anyway, on with the story:]
Iveillios and Corrigan find Captain Cator with his ship, and Corrigan lets Ivellios do most of the talking. Though Cator had not been planning on travelling, he suggests (jingling his coin belt) that he might be "persuaded" otherwise. He also says that it will be very difficult to catch the Black Feather, though again with some encouragement, he's sure The Siren's Kiss could do it. He tells them his usual rate is 12 gp, but since he has no cargo he would double it. However, since Ivellios is a friend, he would be willing to shave that sum.
Before accepting the two as passengers, he mentions that he has information that might save them even more of their money. Warily, Corrigan agrees and allows Ivellios to pay him. Cator tells them that the Black Feather harbors in a cove about a half-day's ride south along the river. Knowing that they were not well-provisioned this morning, he would lay strong odds they got no further this day. He describes the location, and Corrigan recognizes it -- a tributary off the River Reaching just past the Bluffs of Morning. But, he insists, "you never heard it from me." Thanking him, the two decide to set out by night, in the hopes of reaching the Black Feather before morning.
*****
Halfway through the night, Seb hears an unnatural noise, halfway between a howling beast and the whistling wind.
*****
Corrigan and Ivellios make their way across the Bluffs of Morning. It is a treacherous journey at the best of times, full of loose ground and sudden cliff-faces. Though Corrigan had recently been along the Bluffs, Ivellios had not, and the two make slow progress under the sliver of a waning moon. Corm, Ivellios' raven, flies alongside nervously.
At about five in the morning, they see a fissure in the bluff-wall, about 40 feet away. It is illuminated from within, as though by a fire. They hear a dull, repeated rasping, vaguely metalic, coming from beyond the fissure.
Ivellios casts invisibility on Corrigan and she slips inside. There, about twenty paces to her right, she see a set of steps cut into the edge of the fissure, about three feet across, going down. Sitting about ten feet down the stairs, there is a black-cloaked man sharpening his blade. On the other side, Corrigan sees a cave at the bottom of the fissure lit by firelight.
Realizing she cannot get past the sentry, and not wanting to kill him, Corrigan returns to Ivellios. They decide to wait for the invisibility to wear off and then approach the sentry openly.
As they walk down, they hear a quiet horn blowing, and a grey-clad figure closes in behind them, cutting off the exit to the fissure. "Who goes there," he asks.
*****
Seb and Glothram awake and break camp. By morning, Seb examines the dead circle more closely. He judges that it extends about 100 feet in all directions. The leaves crumble into dust at Seb's touch and below his boots. The green leaves seem unnaturally so, as though there were not ready to fall from the tree. Touching a tree, the bark comes away in his hand, and the wood below is seamed with tiny cracks, and no sap.
At the very centre of the dead zone, Seb sees a ring of burned earth, three inches wide and two feet across. Glothram senses a faint aura of evil from it. Picking up handfuls of earth, Seb sees that at least there are insects living within it.
Seb hears a rustling from the deep quiet. Following it, he makes his way to one of the trees. Tearing off a piece of bark, he sees the inside of the tree is swarming with insects of all kinds, eating the tree from the inside out. Seb realizes all the trees are like this, even the one he initially tested, but that the insects grow in intensity towards the centre of the circle. Eemin won't even enter the outer ring.
Finally, Seb and Glothram realize they can learn nothing more, and picking up Caulamber's body, the continue on to his grove and reach it in about three hours. Approaching it, Eemin looks nervous and Seb realizes it is very, very quiet.
*****
Ivellios hears the step from the grey-clad figure almost before he is in sight, as though the whispers in his head were warning him. The figure sweeps back his cloak to reveal two gleaming shortswords. He throws back his hood -- it is Mossa. The black figure before them is Kevan. Exchanging pleasantries and cautious words, Kevan invites them to follow him into the cave, where "his friend," Kambarian, is waiting for them. Mossa apologizes to Corrigan for the deception, saying it was Kevan's idea.
Kevan says that Clenstantia has caused them trouble, and that the situation is complicated, but will not say more.
At the base of the fissure, outside the cave, they can see the Black Feather moored, and the area within looks well lived-in. Marse, one of Kambarian's men, meets the group at the entrance. Though he greets them warmly, he tells Corrigan and Ivellios that they must remove their weapons, as a matter of protocol. Corrigan entrusts her swords to Kevan, and leaves one dagger concealed in her clothing. Though Kevan raises an eye, he says nothing, and the four are ushered inside.
Within, Corrigan can see two caves leading off beyond, supplies, a drydock... essentially everything a smuggler might need in a cove. Kambarian greets them and leads the four to a small, grey chamber beyond the mean room. Magic torches light the walls. In one corner, bound and gagged, Clenstantia lies huddles, apparently unconscious. In the other corner is her gear. Corus, another of Kambarian's men, stands over Clenstaia with a drawn sword.
A curtained section in the far end of the room parts, and a tall, grey-robed man emerges. He has a three-foot, iron-shod walking staff, and cold, piercing eyes. It is Cobrin, one of Myrthas' two senior apprentices.
Shocked, Corrigan tells Cobrin how happy she is that he is still alive. Cobrin accepts her at her word, but asks Corrigan what she saw on her recent trip to the tower. Instead of answering, Corrigan asks when Cobrin was last there. He answers that he was there during the attack, and that the perpetrator was none other than Clenstantia herself, with the help of Derfel.
Corrigan doesn't believe him. She says Clenstantia had neither the power nor the will to do something like this. "I will show you, then," says Cobrin. Taking possession of the green crystal, he places it over his heart and it sinks into his skin. In front of him, an image appears and Corrigan stares, enraptured.
*****
Seb and Glothram draw their swords and leave Caulamber by the grove entrance. This grove is dead like the other one, and perhaps even worse. There are insects swarming on fallen trees and, again, a burnt circle of earth at the centre. Caulamber's house has been burnt and crushed by a falling tree. A ring of druidic stones around the centre have been smashed and burnt with intense heat.
Seb hears buzzing from a burrow which used to be for Caulamber's animal companion, a wild boar. Approaching it, he sees flies circling around the opening and hears a slithering from inside. As Seb approaches, something errupts from the hole and lunges at Seb, hitting him in the chest. A hideous smell of decay washes over him.
Glothram charges at the thing, passing through the horrid stench to land his blow true. It slices through earth, and through something undulating below it, and out the other side. The beast doesn't react.
The dirt flies off the beast. It is the size of a boar, but only a skeleton. In a hideous parody of skin is an undulating mass of insects, mostly maggots. Some cling to Seb's chest where it hit him.
Seb backs off and casts flaming sphere over it, despite the maggots still eating his flesh. Glothram sees maggots contort and pop from the heat. It turns to face him and lunges, and then envelops him within its mass. Glothram breaks free and punches a hole in its "flesh," which closes almost as soon as it is made.
Again Seb rolls the flaming sphere over the monster, and again maggots pop and die. It lunches towards Glothram, and wounds him, but Glothram beat it back before it can envelop him again. Glothram tries to turn it, but he is so rattled the power of Tyr will not issue forth.
Seb once more passes the flaming sphere over the creature. It tries to hit Glothram again, but misses.
Glothram once more tries to turn it. The holy light of Tyr washes over it, but has no effect. Seb rolls the sphere one more time over the creature, as it is becoming considerably charred. Realizing the bigger threat, it turns on Seb and rushes towards him, leaping and closing the distance. He nearly knocks Seb over, but he manages to jump out of the way before being enveloped.
Glothram again tries spellcasting, this time "protection from chaos" on Seb, but again to no effect. Seb slices Saxat through the monster, but to no effect, and he springs away. The thing turns as if to follow, but then seems possessed by a berserk frenzy, claws at the ground, and shrieks. As though a wind were pasing through it, the insects are thrown off, and it runs off into the woods. Its howl grows further and further away.
Seb and Glothram take a moment to heal their wounds, and then realize they are not alone.
*****
The image from the Kiira N'Vaelahr emerges in front of Cobrin. For a moment it is blurry, as though he is passing past events to reach the right time. And then it settles and solidifies.
They see as though out of Myrthas' eyes. He is in front of the scrying pool, Talis beside him, and hears a commotion from outside. Oshwin cries out from the door, and Clenstantia and Derfel enter. "You know better than to disturb me, Clenstantia!" says Myrthas, sternly. Clenstantia bows her head, and says, "yes, Master, I do."
Without provocation, Derfel casts a spell at Talis: lightning from his fingers hits her in the back and she falls into the scrying pool. Myrthas begins to cast a spell, but before his finishes, Clenstantia hits him on the head, surprisingly hard. His spell goes awry and smashes into the scrying pool. Then the room goes blurry and Myrthas is standing in the upper room, below the weather-globe.
He hits his staff to the floor, places a hand on his chest and points to the weather-orb. As the globe goes clear, clouds mass overhead. There is more shouting from below. Myrthas sees Oshwin tethering the carpet, and he is blasted by fire from Clenstantia. She walks up the stairs slowly.
Myrthas conjures lightening from the orb and hits Clenstantia, but she continues to walk towards him. Mythras strikes her with acid, and though bruises blossom over her face, she still walks forward. "I thought to do this more easily," she says, "but I see this is the way it must be." Then purple-red fire from her hands strike Myrthas on the chest. Myrthas hits her on the face, but she is unphased.
From within her robe, Clenstantia pulls a wand, two feet long with a white egg-shaped gem at its end. She strikes him with it, and it shatters Myrthas' staff. There is an explosion, and the roof breaks open, raining down crystal. Myrthas goes down to one knee and reaches towards his chest.
Clenstantia strikes him twice, hard, with the sceptre. On the third strike, she says, "I WILL find the truth from you."
There is an explosion from below and Cobrin rushes in, Mikal in tow. Clenstantia turns to face them and her eyes flash, and Cobrin is immobilized. She smiles at Mikal and easily deflects one of his fireballs. Cobrin, breaking the enchantment, reaches up and twists the metal rods above, rocketing the downwards. Clenstantia side-steps them, almost as though she were forewarned.
With a smile, Clenstantia sends a wave of fire at Mikal, and he falls off the tower. Cobrin unleashes more spells, but still Clenstantia is standing. She speaks a word and his face begins to crinkle, and he plummets after Mikal.
Then she turns back to Myrthas, and the world goes dark. The last thing he sees is something blue-white passing from him into the end of the wand.
*****
The image stops and winks out. Cobrin tells Corrigan it took him nearly six weeks to recover. He says he found Derfel running in the woods, Cassaran's blood on his hands. By quick calculation, Corrigan realizes this took place almost exactly two weeks before the party arrived at Brightstone Keep.
There is a madness in Cobrin's eye. This is not the reasoned discourse Corrigan expected. She desperately tries to tell him that it was not Clenstantia, that it was Ideld the Deathless. Though both Kevan and Kamberian vouch for Corrigan, Cobrin snaps at them: "I will decide what is truth here, pirate!" (Corrigan, meanwhile, is somewhat distressed that Kamberian refers to Kevan as "my trusted lieutenant," but she has bigger things to deal with at the moment.)
Ivellios calms down Cobrin, and Cobrin suggests removing Clenstantia's gag. Corrigaan stops him, saying that if -- unlikely though it might be -- this is still Ideld, removing the gag would be a Very Bad Idea. Cobrin asks if they have any way of ascertaining her true identity. Ivellios steps in. He says, "Above Brightstone Keep, on the narrow pass, I looked into the mind of Ideld the Deathless." He offers to do so now, for Clenstantia, to prove her identity, if Cobrin returns his spell components.
Cobrin agrees, and Ivellios casts the spell. He senses terror and dreams, and below that a deeper fear and incomprehension, but there is no abyss: it is not Ideld. [Line of the night #4: "Hey, it's the abyss! Wanna go for coffee?"] With that, Cobrin tells Mossa to remove the gag and wake her. Clenstantia wakes with a cry, and begins to weep. Corrigan rushes over to her, and Clenstantia whispers that Cobrin made her watch the recording over and over.
Corrigan, coming to a decision within herself, decides to tell Cobrin about the dagger. She asks to speak with him alone, and he leads her back behind his curtained room. Corrigan tells him about the books, and about the dagger. She asks if he has ever heard of the Dagger of Nybor, and he admits that he has, saying, "It is said that whoever bears the dagger is a magnet for misfortune." Corrigan sighs and replies, "Then I must be such a magnet, for I carry the dagger."
With a gleam in his eye, he orders her to show it to him. When she receives her pack and draws out the dagger, Cobrin points to it and it hovers in the air before him, shaking. He chants an invocation and strikes it three times with his staff. At the third strike, the room flares with green-blue light from the gemstone in the dagger, and an image appears of a tall, shaved woman covered in tattoos: Nybor.
The dagger rockets into Cobrin's belt, and he tells Corrigan he is keeping it "as ransom" for her freedom. She insists that Clenstantia and Ivellios be set free as well. Considering, Cobrin tells her that he will only let her go if she explains how Ideld knew Clenstantia so well she could mimic not only her appearance, but also her voice and mannerisms.
*****
As the boar flees into the woods and the maggots disappear, there is a horn blast and a rustling of leaves. Suddenly, Seb and Glothram are surrounded by wood elves. One steps forward -- Seb recognizes him as a druid of Fandrigan's circle. Speaking in Druidic, Seb introduces Glothram and explains why they bear Caulamber's body.
The druid tells Seb that they had been sent to intercept him and Glothram on Fandrigan's orders, as they are summoned by him. Two elves take Caulamber's bier, and Seb and Glothram are escorted through the woods at a quick pace, surrounded by archers.
*****
Corrigan, thinking quickly, speculates that Ideld read Clenstantia's mind as she was leaving the tower to go to Morningvale. With a wild gleam in his eye, Cobrin tells Corrigan that the Kiira N'Vaelahr allows him the power to read minds as well. He tells her that if Ideld had indeed read Clenstantia's mind, there will be a trace, and he will search through her mind until he finds his proof, down to her deepest and most secret memories. Corrigan's eyes go wide and she begs him not to.
With a casual gesture, he freezes Corrigan in place. Still she shouts and begs him to stop. With another gesture, her lips close and her voice freezes in her throat. Cobrin leaves the curtained room and shuts the opening behind him, leaving Corrigan paralysed and mute in the darkness.
And now for a fast lunch, and then off to write the PhD Latin exam. TTFN!